Gulf Air is to open new offices and recruit more staff as part of its Bahrain station expansion.

The airline is committed to improving its customer services and training more Bahrainis, said Bahrain general manager Abdulmalik Al Saei.

He said the airline had re-organised the Manama office with more staff.

"For the private and corporate sectors we are ensuring that a specialised sales manager targets each market - corporate accounts, travel trade and government.

"Each one will have his own team consisting of three people working under his supervision."

Gulf Air has a plan to hire more people in Bahrain but does not have an exact number yet, said Al Saei.

"As a national carrier it is always part of our plan to train Bahrainis whenever we can to assume leadership roles in the future," he said.

He said the airline had also launched an Executive Management Entry Programme, a graduate training scheme to groom nationals from Bahrain, UAE and Oman for future roles within the company's management.

Under the programme, he said Gulf Air would employ about 30 university graduates from the owner states each year.