New regional jets enter Gulf Air's fleet
Gulf Air customers travelling from Bahrain to Larnaca in Cyprus today were introduced to the latest additions to the Gulf Air fleet as they flew on the inaugural flight of the airline's new Embraer E-170 AR aircraft.
At a special ceremony held at Bahrain International airport prior to the departure of the inaugural flight Gulf Air Chief Executive Officer Mr. Samer Majali welcomed passengers, VIP guests from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), senior officials from CAA, Bahrain Airport Services, Gulf Air and members of the media.
Gulf Air took delivery of two E170 regional jets from Embraer last Thursday on a three year lease agreement with the option to extend
for a further five years.Passengers onboard the 67 seat new aircraft were treated to luxuriously-appointed interiors, furnished with all-leather upholstered seating throughout the aircraft with no middle seats, offering exceptional comfort.
The spacious Falcon Gold cabin comes with seven seats offering a seat pitch of 36 inches with a comfortable recline and more leg space to stretch out encouraging passengers to a short powernap before they start their business. For those needing to make final changes to their business presentation, there are PC power outlets in the seats. Economy class passengers are equally taken care of with a generous 31 inch seat pitch and comfortable legroom.
The highlight of the aircraft is its top notch, s tate-of-the-art in seat In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) system in every seat. With over 3000 video titles and audio channels to choose from at their finger-touch customers are spoilt for choice from a wide range of movies, music, news and documentaries in Arabic, English and several international languages.
Gulf Air will deploy the new E170 AR jets on several routes including Larnaca, Istanbul, Athens, Erbil, Baghdad and Muscat. The two E170s will enable the airline to launch an expanded summer schedule for 2010, the details of which will be announced shortly.
In parallel to the fast-track introduction of the two leased EMBRAER 170 AR jets, Gulf Air will be carrying out a full analysis and evaluation of all the regional jets on the market before deciding on the optimal regional jet type to join the fleet permanently. This will support Gulf Air’s strategic blueprint to create an airline that reflects the needs and aspirations of our customers with a targeted, more focused regional and international network, a superior and more consistent product and a modern, more efficient fleet.