Gulf Air, Bahrain’s national carrier, achieved its highest load factor during April 2008, the airline said.

The national carrier also surpassed other regional carriers in its average passenger load factor for January-March period, it said.  

During April, Gulf Air witnessed robust seat bookings, achieving passenger seat load factors of up to 95 per cent in certain routes. Premium class bookings also showed impressive performance with Business Class alone posting 18 per cent increase in April over last year during the same time, the airline said.

Gulf Air’s performance surpasses the region’s average by more than 2 per cent during January–March period, it claimed.

“These are very positive indications of increasing customers’ confidence in us,” said Gulf Air chief executive officer Bjorn Naf.

“Our sustained work towards achieving performance excellence has started yielding results. The revamped network with a customer-friendly schedule, improved punctuality and our strategic business alignment have contributed to these achievements,” he said.

“Our Internet sales have grown 88 per cent in the past two months, well ahead of our targets. Simple and fast booking engine combined with our “Lowest Fare Guarantee” has fuelled this outstanding performance,” Naf said.

“With our expansion plans on schedule with the launch of new services to Shanghai from June 16 and to Hyderabad from July 1, we are  fully geared up to better our current performance and become the carrier of choice,” said Naf.

Bookings for summer travel have already reached peak levels of over 85 per cent to some popular destinations such as Delhi, Kochi, Trivandrum, Istanbul, Kathmandu and Bangkok, he added. – TradeArabia News Service