Gulf Air
Gulf Air is the flag carrier of Kingdom of Bahrain. It is headquartered in Manama, Bahrain and its main hub is at Bahrain International Airport. Gulf Air is known to spend on airline maintenance more than any other airline of its size.
Founded in 1950 as Gulf Aviation by British pilot and entrepreneur Freddie Bosworth, it is considered as one of the oldest airlines in the Middle East. After Bosworth died in 1951, the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) acquired 22% stake in the airline and updated its aircraft fleet. It began its services to London in 1970.
In 1973, Gulf Aviation was re-branded as Gulf Air when the governments of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, State of Qatar, Sultanate of Oman and Kingdom of Bahrain acquired the airline. They signed the Foundation Treaty that effectively gave each government 25% stake in the company.
Gulf Air was the first international airline to land at Riyadh in the 1980s and also the first Arab airline to fly to Australia. It launched its flight services to Milan in 2002. In the same year, the State of Qatar withdrew their stakes in the airline while the Emirate of Abu Dhabi followed suit in 2005 to form its own airline. Two years after, in 2007, the Sultanate of Oman withdrew from the airline too making the government of Kingdom of Bahrain the sole owner of Gulf Air.
Domestic and International Destinations
Gulf Air has services to 40 destinations around Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe. It has a fleet size of 31 aircraft.
It has flight operations to Cairo in Egypt; Khartoum in Sudan; Shanghai in People’s Republic of China; Dhaka in Bangladesh; Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Trivandrum in India; Kathmandu in Nepal; Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar in Pakistan; Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia; Manila in the Philippines; Bangkok in Thailand; Manama in Bahrain; Mashhad, Shiraz and Tehran in Iran; Amman in Jordan; Kuwait City in Kuwait; Beirut in Lebanon; Muscat in Oman; Doha in Qatar; Dammam, Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia; Damascus in Syria; Istanbul in Turkey; Abu Dhabi and Dubai in United Arab Emirates; Sanaa in Yemen; Larnaca in Cyprus; Paris in France; Frankfurt in Germany; Athens in Greece and London in United Kingdom.
Gulf Air Frequent Flyer Programme (FFP)
The Gulf Air Frequent Flyer Programme (FFP) is formerly known as Falcon Frequent Flyer Programme. It offers many benefits to its loyal customers and as a testament to its efforts to provide good service FFP has been recognized in the 17th Annual Freddie Awards. Winners of Freddie Awards are decided via votes of frequent travellers. Gulf Air got the first place as Best Website, Best Award, Best Customer Service and Best Award Redemption in the Frequent Flyer Programme, Europe/Middle East/Africa category.
Points are earned when members fly with Gulf Air and its partner airlines such as American Airlines, Jet Airways, Oman Air and Virgin Atlantic Airways. It also has partnership with various commercial establishments such as financial institutions, hotels, car rentals, telecoms, leisure and lifestyle that offer various services to give members more chances of earning miles.
Earned miles can be redeemed for free flights and free upgrades. Membership benefits include extra baggage allowance, preferred seating, personal baggage tags, bonus miles, priority waitlisting on fully booked flights, business class check-in, access to business class lounges and priority baggage handling.
The FFP has three levels of membership namely: Blue, Silver and Gold. The accrual of points depends on route and class flown. Frequent flyers of Gulf Air also enjoy a 10-year validity period for their earned miles.
In-flight Services
Gulf Air offers many in-flight services to ensure its passengers’ comfortable and enjoyable experience. Movies in different languages, music, Air TV, duty free shopping, communication facilities, their in-flight magazine, Gulf Life, sleeper seat service, Sky Nanny, Sky Chef and world class gourmet cuisine are available onboard.