Gulf Air has announced plans to build a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility at its home base at Bahrain International Airport.
“This is the beginning of another exciting milestone for Bahrain’s aviation sector,” Gulf Air Group CEO Jeffrey Goh said in a statement July 20. “For Gulf Air, it will be the first purpose-built MRO facility.”
Until now, Gulf Air has phased out MRO work for its fleet.
“The new facility will provide a great opportunity to enhance our aviation maintenance talents and capabilities,” Goh said. The airline said its new MRO facility will “bring its maintenance operations in line with the highest international standards [and] will also implement the latest technologies in aircraft engineering, automation, sustainability, and environmental footprint reduction.
The MRO complex will house a 20,000+ m2 (215,000 ft.2) temperature-controlled hangar, as well as stores, workshops, and a dedicated tarmac. The facility will service Gulf Air’s fleet as well as third-party customers.
Gulf Air operates 41 aircraft, comprising 31 Airbus narrowbodies and 10 Boeing 787-9 widebodies.
“We have two more 787s to come, as well as about six or seven A320/321s, and we are currently reviewing the needs of our fleet portfolio,” Goh told Aviation Week in a June interview in Dubai.
Gulf Air has also placed four of its A320ceos on the market. “But we are revisiting that, we may need additional capacity,” the CEO said.
Gulf Air has its own Aviation Academy, which utilizes four Airbus A320 full flight simulators. “We already have third-party users, and we are looking for opportunities to expand the academy with additional simulators,” Goh said. “Obviously, the academy has to serve the needs of Gulf Air first, including 787s [simulators in the future]. Then we will look for opportunities with third parties,” he said.
Goh describes Gulf Air as a modest-sized airline. “Gulf Air will turn 75 years old in 2025,” he said. “The airline has got a brand, a history behind it.”
Its goal, Goh said, is to deliver customer service. “That should give us a proposition that would be sufficiently attractive,” he added. “The pie [in the Middle East region] is big enough for us to have a small slice to participate in that market.”
In 2023, Gulf Air carried 5.3 million passengers, 70% of whom transferred in Bahrain. “We have one of the most efficient transfer times compared to other hubs in the region,” Goh said. “We are a less complex airport for transfers.”
