GULF Air has announced that funding in the region of $900 million for the first phase of its fleet upgrade, replacement and growth programme is expected to be in place by May this year.
The decision to accelerate the replacement of the airline’s nine Boeing 767s was one of several major resolutions in support of the Smart Airline, Successful Business strategy, that were passed at the first Board meeting under Gulf Air’s new ownership structure held in Oman last week.
President and chief executive James Hogan said discussions with financial institutions were nearing their conclusion. “The renewed confidence the financial markets have in Gulf Air’s commercial performance over the past few years has resulted in us moving forward at a good pace,” he said.
“We are confident of making a formal announcement on funding in the next three months along with a Memorandum of Understanding with one of the airframe manufacturers.”
The airline has just launched new year round thrice weekly non-stop direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Muscat, Oman and then onto Bahrain.