Countdown begins for region's pioneering airline

The countdown to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Middle East region's pioneering airline, begins today as it turns sixty on 24 March 2010 while looking ahead to the next sixty years and beyond.

The airline’s staff and management have come together to launch a number of activities over the week and after to mark this historic occasion. Gulf Air’s staff members located across 28 countries in four continents will also be celebrating the occasion from their offices.

Over the years, Gulf Air has grown from a single aircraft to a modern 36-fleet international airline and became a fully owned Bahraini company in 2007.

Today the airline has firmly aligned itself with the Kingdom’s economic blue print, ‘Vision 2030’ and has committed to build an efficient, commercially sustainable and dynamic airline that effectively serves the people and the economy of Bahrain and represents the Kingdom on the world stage.

It was on 24 March 1950 Gulf Aviation Company, the predecessor to Gulf Air, was officially registered as a private shareholding company by a Scottish aviator and dreamer, Freddie Bosworth, with funding from a group of visionary Bahraini businessmen to establish the airline as a commercial enterprise.