Gulf Air
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Gulf Air Logo
Gulf Air is the national carrier airline of Bahrain, Oman, and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It operates scheduled services to Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and the USA. Its main bases are Bahrain International Airport (BAH), Seeb International Airport (MCT), Muscat and Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH).
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History
Gulf Air was established on 24 March 1950 by UK aviator Freddie Bosworth as Gulf Aviation. It started operations on 5 July 1950. It initially provided a commuter service between Bahrain, Doha and Dhahran and contract work for oil exploration companies. From then until 1970, BOAC was a major shareholder. Services to London began in April 1970 with a Vickers VC-10 aircraft. The governments of Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar purchased BOAC's shares in 1973 and with the Foundation Treaty of 1 January 1974, Gulf Aviation became the national carrier of the four states and was renamed Gulf Air. In the '70s the airline also greatly increased its fleet and subsequently its route network, flying to various destinations in both Europe and Asia.
The 1980s brought increased growth to Gulf Air and the network continued to grow. In the 1990s the airline grew rapidly and became involved in partnerships with numerous other airlines. The fleet was modernized and the route network diversified. In 2002 a recovery plan was launched in response to a loss of sales. The government of Qatar withdrew from the airline in December 2002. By March 2004, Gulf Air had hired its first two female pilots. Gulf Air also wholly owns subsidiary airline Gulf Traveller.
If Etihad Airways, a new national airline of Abu Dhabi that was formed in late 2003, develops further, then the Abu Dhabi government may withdraw from Gulf Air.
Incidents & Accidents
On 23 September 1983, Gulf Air Flight 771, which was flying from Abu Dhabi to Karachi International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, was bombed over the UAE, killing everyone on board.
Services
Gulf Air operates services to the following international scheduled destinations (at January 2005): Abu Dhabi, Amman, Athens, Bangalore, Bangkok, Beirut, Cairo, Casablanca, Chennai, Colombo, Damascus, Dammam, Delhi, Dhaka, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Islamabad, Istanbul, Jakarta, Jeddah, Karachi, Kathmandu, Khartoum, Kochi, Kolkata, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Lahore, Larnaca, London, Manila, Mumbai, Muscat, Paris, Peshawar, Ras al Khaimah, Riyadh, Sanaa, Shiraz, Singapore, Sydney, Tehran and Thiruvananthapuram.
See full article: Gulf Air destinations
Fleet
The Gulf Air Fleet consists of the following aircraft (at June 2005):
- 10 Airbus A320-200
- 6 Airbus A330-200
- 9 Airbus A340-300
- 4 Boeing 767-300
External links
- Gulf Air (http://www.gulfairco.com/)
- Gulf Air Fleet Detail (http://www.planespotters.net/Airline/Gulf_Air?show=all)
- Gulf Air Passenger Opinions (http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/gulf.htm)
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