DRIVING the new commercial initiatives launched recently and further reinforcing its position as the carrier with the largest network in the Middle East, Gulf Air’s new winter schedule has a range of new features.
The winter schedule, which comes into effect from October 30, offers more flights, increased frequencies, additional capacities, improved connectivity and modified timings on several routes in the airline’s network.
Chief commercial officer Karim Makhlouf said: 'Before drawing up the winter schedule, our commercial and network planning teams studied the travel patterns of our customers across our route network and their needs. The good news is that our ever-popular regional destinations in the UAE and Kuwait have seen a tremendous increase in traffic indicating the need to augment our fleet and frequency.
'In addition, our new and re-launched routes such as Addis Ababa, Colombo, Nairobi and Beirut have proved to be very successful with high load factors, endorsing the fact our renewed focus in the Middle East and Africa is working very well.
'The travel patterns also indicated that our customers are looking for better and newer connections and more convenient flight timings.'
Winter schedule highlights:
• Twenty eight extra flights per week to the UAE and Kuwait
The new winter schedule offers 14 additional flights per week to Dubai and seven to Abu Dhabi making a total of 98 flights per week.
The carrier will also operate seven extra flights to Kuwait - a total of 35 flights per week - the second highest number of connections by any airline to this emirate;
• Three additional flights to Beirut with new timings for more connectivity;
• Istanbul gets two extra flights with convenient split schedules.
Gulf Air’s Istanbul flights have been increased from five to seven times per week with a split scheduleof four morning and three evening flights to provide greater network connectivity to new markets such as Bangkok, Kathmandu, Addis Ababa, Manila, Nairobi, Colombo and Kabul;
• Addis Ababa is now a daily service;
• Chennai increased from daily to nine weekly flights.
Flights to Chennai have been operating at close to 85 per cent seat factor. To meet the increase in demand, two weekly flights are being added, subject to approval;
• Kathmandu services increased from 12 weekly to double daily.
Kathmandu has also seen exceptional performance in 2011, where, for the winter season, the flights have been increased from 12 weekly flights to double daily using an Airbus A320. During the peak season months of December and January, some flights will be operated with larger Airbus A330 to take advantage of the high demand of the period.
• Dhaka increased from 10 to 11 weekly flights;
• Khartoum increased from six weekly to daily flights;
• Colombo adds one more flight to nine a week;
• Kabul now served five-times a week;
• Yemen’s two destinations delinked and flights increased.
Flights to Aden and Sana’a have become independent services instead of round-trip flights with four weekly flights to Sana’a and two to Aden separately, encouraged by the increasing customer demand for a direct service to Aden;
• Delhi new standardised double-daily schedule creating better connectivity for Africa and Europe.
A double-daily service departing Bahrain at 2.30pm and 10.40pm enables all of Gulf Air’s European routes to be perfectly connected via Bahrain in both directions;
• Mumbai flights timings modified to connect more destinations.
The daily flights between Mumbai and Bahrain have been modified to depart at 6.45pm to arrive in Bahrain at 8.10pm allowing better onward connectivity;
• Dammam flight timings modified to connect more new destinations and
• Cairo gets split schedule to increase connectivity.
The Bahraini national carrier has also announced special winter promotional fares to several destinations.
It has just launched flights to Rome, Italy, Entebbe, Uganda, and Juba in the new republic of South Sudan.