Gulf Air considering expanding operations in Indian market

Mumbai: Gulf Air, the national carrier of Kingdom of Bahrain is considering expanding its portfolio in the Indian market. The carrier currently operates twice daily flights from Mumbai and New Delhi; daily flights from Kochi, Trivandrum, Chennai and Bangalore; five times a week from Hyderabad and twice a week from Kolkata. In total, it operates more than 11,000 seats on the India – Gulf route every week. It is looking at connecting smaller cities of India with the Gulf region.
A source close to the developments said, “Gulf Air is considering expanding its Indian operations in the next few years. The carrier is keen on entering Tier I cities like Amritsar, Jaipur, Ahmedabad etc. within a year or so. The carrier is currently in bilateral talks with the Indian aviation ministry to increase services and capacities on the India – Gulf route.” Currently, the airline operates A320 and A330 aircraft on Indian routes, while there are no plans right now to replace smaller aircraft due to fall in load factors.
The source further added, “The main attraction for Indian travellers to fly on Gulf Air would be its connectivity to Europe, Middle East and USA. Apart from flexible connecting times, the carrier has recently reduced fares to European destinations for its Indian clients.” The carrier received about 80-85 per cent load factor last year (till November 26) and about 60 per cent in last two months (December 2008 – January 2009). Of the total passengers segment, about 70 per cent are trade travellers, 15 per cent are tourists to countries like Egypt and Turkey and remaining 15 per cent consists of business travellers, student segment and VFR (Visiting Friends & Relatives) sector.
14/02/09 Anita Jain/TravelBizMonitor

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Categories: Foreign Feb 2009