BAHRAIN’S national carrier, Gulf Air has signed amendment agreements with Airbus and Boeing - its two key suppliers of wide-body and narrow-body aircraft, to realign its original orders to meet its long-term strategic needs.
During 2011 Gulf Air had engaged in extensive discussions with both airframe manufactures to renegotiate its order book. This has become necessary in light of the tough economic conditions faced by the global aviation industry recently including high-fuel prices and a slump in air traffic as well as the regional developments over the last fifteen months resulting in the forced suspension of a number of destinations impacting revenue.
The revised agreement with Airbus ultimately permits the conversion of the existing wide-body obligation into eight A320ceo Family aircraft, all of which will have be delivered by year-end, plus up to sixteen A320neo Family aircraft slated to join the airline’s fleet as replacement and/or growth for the current single-aisle fleet in the latter part of the decade.
The revised Boeing agreement, allows the airline to reduce its wide-body 787s Dreamliner requirement to 12 – 16 aircraft depending on Gulf Air’s strategic requirements. These aircraft are scheduled for delivery towards the end of the decade and will replace Gulf Air’s current wide-body fleet.