Gulf Air Upgrades Fleet
Robert JonesGulf Air yesterday received delivery of the first of 10 new Airbus A320 aircraft, thus officially beginning its fleet renewal programme. Gulf Air chairman Talal Alzain welcomed the first Airbus A320 at the apron of Bahrain International Airport. Mr. Alzain said Gulf Air had now taken a further step forward its goal to develop a national airline that all the people of Bahrain could appreciate with pride.
Mr. Alzain said that the airline shall prove to be a focused and dynamic enterprise which will support the national economy. He added that by investing in the fleet at the present time, the airline is securing its future because with a modern and efficient fleet of aircrafts, the company may lower the costs and provide an upgraded service to its passengers.
Until April nest year, Gulf Air is poised to receive one new A320 aircraft every month and a furtherl two A320s are scheduled for delivery in December 2010 , completing the order of its initial batch of A320s.
Samer Majali, Gulf Air chief executive officer, claimed the delivery of the A320 marks the beginning of exciting times for the carrier.
He said that the launch of the fleet renewal programme is another step for the company and is extremely timely as Gulf Air masterplans its new strategic trajectory.
He added that the new fleet of planes will be used to gradually replace the carrier’s older narrow-body aircrafts which not as fuel efficient and which’s maintenance is proving to be more expensive as time goes by.
According to Majali, the new fleet will also be used to strengthen the airlines’ Middle East presence on key strategic and high performance links such as the carrier’s expansion into Iraq.
He said the airline opted for the A320 due to the proven qualities made by Airbus in terms of innovation and performance advances.
He added that Airbus has made a plane which is more efficient and reliable at the operational level whilst simultaneously achieving the top comfort levels for the passengers. He said that Its environmental performance had also been a factor, proving to be the top performer among all single aisle commercial passenger planes.
Gulf Air now boasts a fleet of 13 narrow-body planes: nine A320s, two A319s and two A321s.
The A320 has a capacity of 136 travellers seated in a two-class configuration with 16 Business Class passengers and 120 Economy Class passengers.
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