Gulf Air Reveals Additional Network Cuts

Bahrain’s national carrier Gulf Air has revealed it will close its routes to four additional destinations; Damascus, Athens, Milan and Kuala Lumpur this summer due to the current operating environment and falling demand. The announcement follows just weeks after the airline also confirmed the closure of its services to Entebbe and Geneva.

Gulf Air confirms that flights from Bahrain to Damascus will be suspended from March 2, 2012, services to Athens and Milan will cease from March 12, 2012, while its Kuala Lumpur route will close from March 25, 2012. The significant decision comes as the airline seeks to address current economic challenges and in particular the local and regional political situation.

“It is currently a challenging business environment for airlines around the world. These closures are pragmatic commercial decisions aimed at focusing services on routes with higher passenger traffic,” said Samer Majali, Chief Executive Officer, Gulf Air. “Our commercial strategy, developed in 2009, delivered significant gains in 2010 but last year has been challenging. Therefore, we are now adapting our approach to address the challenges on an urgent basis.”

Gulf Air says it plans to “use its fleet and resources in the most efficient way” and will now concentrate on offering flights on “high-demand, high-yield routes”.