BAHRAIN, 12 June — Gulf Air, the flag carrier of Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar, is to receive a capital injection of $159.2 million from the four shareholding states, each immediately paying one quarter of the total amount. The injection of capital was announced following the quarterly board meeting in Abu Dhabi on May 20.
In response to the decision, Gulf Air President & CEO Ibrahim Abdullah Al-Hamer said: “The decision is most welcome and demonstrates very clearly the support and commitment of the owner states toward the company. The new management team is very eager to implement plans for restructuring, rationalization and our medium-term strategy to restore the airline to profitability within 18 months. This injection will enable us to proceed speedily and effectively. Our longer-term plan is to reposition the airline in response to market and industry trends. Earlier this year, we identified key areas for improvement in order to achieve more positive results. Among these was our onetime performance, which I’m very pleased to report is now at the rate of 90 percent of flights departing within 15 minutes, much higher than the industry norm. The board of directors has given a specific mandate to its executive committee to review the effectiveness of cost-containment measures and the implementation of positive and beneficial strategies.”
