Gulf Air CEO: Network Revamp Will Be Visible By Late 2025

Gulf Air CEO Jeffrey Goh has been working on a wide-ranging network review during his first nine months as CEO, which will result in unprofitable routes being cut and 25% more destinations within five years.

“We spent the better part of this year so far really looking at our network,” Goh said, during an on-stage keynote interview at Routes World 2024 in Bahrain.

Gulf Air flies to around 60 destinations today. “We expect, in the course of the next five years, to be growing approximately 25% more in terms of destinations.”

As part of this review, Gulf Air has identified fresh principles for its network development, which will see the airline grow in key markets to the east, west and south, including Africa. Gulf Air is already actively evaluating a return to the U.S.

“There will be markets where we will withdraw from because they no longer make sense,” Goh said, without specifying which routes might be affected. All routes will need to be profitable, “at least” on a variable cost basis, although this will involve some difficult decisions about network contribution.

“Subject to aircraft availability, you will see by the end of the next five years a different network proposition,” he said.

Gulf Air operates a fleet of 32 Airbus A320-family aircraft and 10 Boeing 787-9s. Over the coming years, nine A320-family aircraft and two 787-9s are scheduled to join the fleet. While the narrowbody numbers are likely to remain stable, Goh said “a few” more 787s may be needed.

The revamped network will include a slight change in Gulf Air’s traffic mix. Currently, 70% of passengers are transferring through Bahrain. Goh is aiming to increase local visitor numbers by creating a dedicated team for its holidays business, in a bid to attract more stopover traffic.

This forms part of Goh’s plans to “very robustly” address Gulf Air’s financial performance, because it has been “some years” since the airline was last profitable.

“The airline needs to be better than where it is today,” he said. “By the end of 2025, I think the message should be out there that our network is being recalibrated.”