Gulf Air has logged one million flight hours of CFM engines on its Airbus A320 and A340.
To mark the milestone, CFM International, a joint venture by SNECMA of France and General Electric of the United States, presented Gulf Air with a commemorative plaque at a celebration ceremony at Le Royal Meridien in Bahrain. CFM's President and Chief Executive Office Gerard Laviec presented the Award to Gulf Air chief executive Ibrahim Al Hamer in presence of senior company officials and representatives of Gulf Aircraft Maintenance Company (Gamco) and the Civil Aviation department. Gulf Air took delivery of its first CFM56-5A powered Airbus A320 in 1992 and today operates a fleet of 12 on its routes throughout the Middle East. In 1994, Gulf introduced the long-range, four-engine Airbus A32-10-300, powered by the CFM565C engine. The five A340s currently in service are operated on routes to Europe, Africa, Australia and the Asia Pacific Region. 'Gulf Air has used CFM engines for almost 10 years and we would not have achieved this milestone without Gamco's excellent maintenance record. I would like to take this opportunity to extend our sincerest thanks and appreciation to Gamco for all its efforts and to CFM for this honour, 'said Al Hamer.