GULF Air has been named winner of the Excellence in Quality Improvement category of the 2004 Skytrax Airline Excellence Awards, the world’s largest survey of passenger attitudes towards airlines.
Skytrax, which polled the views of 10,821,215 air travellers between June 2003 and March 2004, made the award to Gulf Air in recognition of, “the dramatic changes that have been achieved in the last two years, and the manner with which Gulf Air is now re-establishing as a force across the Middle East”. Peter Miller of Skytrax said, “Quality improvement is not an overnight process but we have seen such clear evidence of real change within Gulf Air that there was no viable challenge for this Award category.”
As well as this major category win, Gulf Air’s new premium check-in facilities at Bahrain were voted third Best for First Class Check-In Facilities in the world, and the airline was named as providing the World’s Best in First Class Onboard Catering, and as having the third Best First Class Lounge in the world, with its new lounge in Bahrain. The airline also received Best Business Class Check in Facilities in the world and Best Business Lounge in the Middle East and second in the World category. James Hogan, chief executive of Gulf Air, said, “This is real recognition of the progress made by the staff and management of Gulf Air, by the people who matter most: our passengers.”
Skytrax Airline Survey is the global measure of passengers’ opinions. The survey sample for this year’s awards marks an increase of more than six million completed questionnaires over the 2002/2003 survey.