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FLYING HIGH

Gulf Air registers solid growth in H1

Manama, August 27, 2012

Bahrain's national carrier Gulf Air said its revenue and passenger numbers soared across its business operations during the first half when compared to the same period last year.

Announcing the results, CEO Samer Majali said the airline has posted significant improvements in its 2012 half yearly performance recording 6 per cent rise in revenue and 13 per cent jump in passenger numbers compared to the same period last year.

The seat load factor has reached 77 per cent for the same period registering a 5 per cent growth, he added.

The airline’s Falcon Gold premium class alone has seen a healthy 35 per cent growth while economy class has seen 12 per cent growth over the same period last year indicating the passengers increasing preference to fly with Gulf Air due to several new features and facilities introduced recently, said Majali.

According to him, Gulf Air currently operates one of the youngest fleets in the region with an average fleet age of just 4.7 years.

The airline’s on-time punctuality has grown to 79 per cent as against 78 per cent in 2011 and 74 per cent in 2010 while its technical dispatch reliability has reached 99.4 per cent.

Correspondingly, Majali pointed out that customer complaints have reduced by 11 per cent.

'The introduction of the staff appreciation scheme last year has received much appreciation from customers with over 2000 frequent flyers complimenting the airline’s customer service,' he added.

Majali pointed out that Gulf Air was able to achieve these results with the combined efforts of rationalized route network, fleet optimisation, improved sales efficiency, products and services, cost efficiency measures and expenditure reduction.

'This is by no means a small achievement considering factors such as the temporary suspension of eight profitable routes and high fuel prices that have had a negative impact on our traffic and revenue,' he noted.

He said the national carrier was pushing forward with its cost-efficiency and sales efficiency measures in 2012 and was targeting a further 15 per cent reduction in its cost base for the full year.

'We have already achieved a cost base savings of BD6.8 million (       ) between January and May this year,' he stated.

'We are glad that the business is looking up and we will continue to work harder to improve across our business functions to provide the best value for money to our customers,' said Majali.

'Above all, we will continue to be the flag carrier of Bahrain and support the country’s economic ambitions by being a commercially sustainable and dynamic airline that effectively serves the people and the economy of Bahrain, and represents the Kingdom on the world stage,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service




Tags: Gulf Air | Bahrain | growth | Passengers | Revenue | Seat factor |

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