Gulf Air, Bahrain's national carrier, plans to boost its global footprint by more than 50 per cent within the next seven years with the acquisition of new aircraft, its chief executive officer was quoted as saying.

The carrier will start taking delivery of the new aircraft in the second quarter of 2018, Zawya said quoting Maher Salman Al Musallam.

The airline has placed orders worth a total of $7.6 billion for 45 Boeing and Airbus planes. The contracts include 16 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, 17 Airbus 321neo, and 12 Airbus 320neo.

"These planes, which are of different sizes, can boost Gulf Air's different products and services at various levels, whether it is safeguarding the environment, boosting flight connections or improving the services," he said in an interview with Zawya.

The airline aims to fly to 60 destinations by 2023 form the present 39 cities, he said. The expansion will focus on developing Gulf Air's footprint in Europe, the Indian Subcontinent and the greater Asia region, he said.