BAHRAIN, 19 August 2004 — Gulf Air, the national airline of Bahrain, Oman and Abu Dhabi on Tuesday published its half-yearly growth figures, which indicate that despite increasing fuel costs and aggressive regional competition the airline is confident it will meet its targets to break even this year. In the first six months of 2004, Gulf Air’s passengers increased by 39 percent over the same period last year.
“Like 2003, this year has brought many challenges to the airline industry, yet we continue to see passenger growth,” Gulf Air President and Chief Executive James Hogan said. “Based on our continued positive performance, we’re confident of reaching our break-even target for this year.”
Major contributions to passenger growth came from Gulf Air Holidays, the airline’s tour operation, which showed a 67 percent increase in revenue over the same period last year, with passenger numbers increasing by 58 percent. Gulf Air’s strong performance this year is also reflected in significantly improved key indicators with premium travel on European routes up 34 percent, a growth in frequent flyer membership of 171 percent and an increase of 17.2 percent in cargo uplift.
Passenger growth to European routes was driven by network and service enhancements, including the Sky Chef service in the first class cabin, the equivalent of a first class menu for business class passengers, the sky nanny service in all cabins and a full line-up of new, in flight entertainment.
