“We are adding eight new aircrafts and the by the mid 2012 Gulf Air will have the youngest fleet in the region,”
Majali, on the sidelines of the opening of airline’s new city office at the Seef Mall, said that Gulf Air would continue to focus on the hospitality and serving passengers with care.
“With passengers being more focussed on customer service, sales office of any airline must become instrumental for fast and efficient assistance. Gulf Air’s new office combines Arabian hospitality with business efficiency focussing on the needs of the customers,” he explained.
“One of the key areas of Gulf Air’s new business strategy is to focus on improving our products and services we offer,” he said.
“The conveniently located sales office is an example as we keep improving ourselves in customer service on the ground, we will continue to add more features and facilities in the air as well, so that our top customers enjoy a consistently enhanced experience throughout their journey,” Majali said.
Gulf Air, Majali said, will also roll out a refurbished business lounge at the Bahrain International Airport towards the end of month, giving a new dimension to the service at Gulf Air lounge.
“Over the decades, Gulf Air has been known for its hospitality and taking care of its passengers by offering the best service through a well trained cabin crew. We will not only maintain this rich tradition but will also improve the service standards,” Majali said.
The year 2012, he added, will be full of new developments as Gulf Air will make important announcements with regards to service upgrades and new destinations.
With regard to destinations Majali said Gulf Air would add new destinations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as per the previous plan of the regional expansion.
“Gulf Air will also announce new destinations in the other parts of the world as part of its business model in 2012,” he added.
Airline’s Chairman Talal Al Zain, who is also the CEO of the Bahrain’s Sovereign Fund Mumtalakat which also owns Gulf Air, said the opening of Gulf Air’s new city office at Seef Mall would add new dimension to the airline’s resolve of serving its client base efficiently.
He said the new offices at the Seef Mall would replace the old offices located at Manama Centre as there have been growing traffic and shrinking parking facilities in Manama downtown.
“Seef Mall being the first mall in the Kingdom of Bahrain serves as one of the most visited places among the shoppers and foreign visitors and Gulf Air’s presence at this important location will be an added benefit for the customers,” Al Zain explained.
Fitch Rating Agency Fitch Ratings earlier this month affirmed Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company’s (Mumtalakat) long-term issuer default rating (IDR) and senior unsecured rating at ‘BBB’.
Fitch noted that Gulf Air’s historical operating losses were a major financial burden on Mumtalakat, given the latter’s material liquidity assistance thus far to the airline of approximately $450million in 2008 and $525million in 2009. Fitch continues to expect that the capital injection and any additional material financial support to Gulf Air will be assumed directly by the government via Mumtalakat. In 2010, the government funded Gulf Air with a capital injection of approximately $1.1billion, which was routed through Mumtalakat.