The project which started in early 2014 finished in almost ten months not only bringing a new state-of-the-art product but also added a new dimension of luxury to the airline’s existing fleet of A-330, the top management led by the acting CEO told reporters on Tuesday.
“This successful retrofit represents the fruits of Gulf Air’s ambitious and comprehensive product enhancement strategy that is geared towards enhancing, improving and standardizing our product in a way that will deliver positive impact to our passengers. Fitting this upgraded equipment to our A330 fleet enhances the onboard experience while reflecting our ongoing commitment to our long-haul operations. I look forward to receive valued passengers’ feedback,” Gulf Air acting Chief Executive Officer, Maher Salman Al Musallam, said.
Gulf Air’s retrofitted Airbus A330 aircraft has been upgraded with fully-flat bed seats in the airline’s Falcon Gold Class, revamped seats in Economy Class and a state-of-the-art in-flight-entertainment system throughout.
Designed specifically for Gulf Air and integrating various elements of passengers’ feedback, the retrofit was launched on 4 Airbus A330s in the first quarter of 2014, with three key partners: Avianor, Zodiac Aerospace and BEAerospace. Newly configured for a total of 214 seats in a two-class configuration of 30 Falcon Gold Class seats and 184 Economy seats, the retrofit delivers significant enhancements across both cabins.
For premium passengers, the new 22-inch wide Falcon Gold Class seats convert into fully-flat beds measuring 1.90 meters in length and come equipped with an in-seat massage facility, privacy dividers, fully adjustable armrests and significant storage space. The new Economy Class seats offer passengers the latest in comfort and technology with a greater recline to compliment an 18-inch seat-width and an adjustable head and foot rest to expand leg space.
For optimum onboard entertainment, all seats in Gulf Air’s upgraded A330 aircraft include an integrated Audio-Video on Demand (AVOD) feature, an individual touch screen (15-inch in Falcon Gold class and 9-inch in Economy) in every seat and high quality, noise-cancelling headphones. A suite of movies, video and audio titles in several languages are on offer, in addition to games.
The newly retrofitted aircrafts will mainly service Gulf Air’s London Heathrow T4 and Bangkok routes which are served with nonstop twice daily and 06 weekly flights respectively. Gulf Air currently operates an all-Airbus fleet with 28 modern aircraft that hold a combined average age of 6 years. The airline’s meld of wide and narrow body aircrafts enable Bahrain’s national carrier to meet demand for its extensive regional network and strategic long-haul routes.
The revampedA330 product introduces fully-flat bed seats in the airline’s Falcon Gold Class, upgraded seats in Economy Class and a state-of-the-art in-flight-entertainment system throughout, and was designed specifically for Gulf Air, integrating features based on passenger feedback.
Realised by three key partners:Avianor, Zodiac Aerospace and BE, the aircraft’s new Falcon Gold seats convert into fully-flat beds measuring 1.90 meters in length guaranteeing a comfortable night’s sleep. The Falcon Gold seats offer more personal space between seats than the airline’s previous A330 business class product, allowing passengers to sit back and relax in a 22-inch wide armchair that converts easily into the passenger’s desired position. The new Economy Class seats offer passengers the very latest in comfort: a greater reclines to compliment an 18-inch seat-width and an adjustable head and foot rest that allows greater passenger relaxation.
All seats in Gulf Air’s upgraded A330 aircraft include an integrated Audio-Video on Demand (AVOD) feature, an individual touch screen (15-inch in Falcon Gold class and 9-inch in Economy) in every seat and high quality headphones. A suite of movies, video and audio titles in several languages are on offer, in addition to games. A USB port is available in every seat to allow passengers to easily charge electronic devices.