Gulf Air, the national carrier of Bahrain, plans to focus more on the Indian subcontinent, Gulf and West Asian countries.

Kamal bin Ahmed Mohamed, Bahrain’s Minister of Transportation, said the existing route network was reviewed to provide a better arrangement.

“The focus will now be on the Indian subcontinent and West Asian destinations such as Egypt, Lebanon and Sudan, rather than European destinations,” he said.

Gulf Air today has the maximum number of inter-connecting flights in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

Restructuring process

The Minister, who holds the aviation portfolio, said the airline has embarked on a restructuring process, which would be completed in two years through a 185 million dinar package. The aim is to reduce the fleet size and prune staff strength.

With the ongoing restructuring process, he said the number of aircrafthas come down to 26 from 38. “We have developed a new strategy and are very optimistic,” he added.

The restructuring process has started yielding results and now the airline is on the right track to achieve overall cost savings, he said.

It laid off 15 per cent of its staff and cut four of its loss making routes since January as part of the restructuring process .

The Minister was in Kerala as part of a business delegation from the Gulf nation for mutual development and growth through better economic ties.

He pointed out that Bahrain does not subsidise the airlines like other countries. We cannot afford it, he said.

At present, Gulf Air operates six daily flights to India — two to Delhi and 2 to Mumbai and one each to Chennai and Kochi.

sajeevkumar.v@thehindu.co.in

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