Gulf Air has opened an Integrated Operations Centre (IOC) at its Bahrain headquarters.
The centre is open 24-hours a day and seven days a week to manage any disruptions to the Gulf Air schedule, said operations control manager Tom Powell. "The purpose of the centre was to bring together the decision makers who control the Gulf Air Schedule within a three-day control period," he added. "These include operations control, crew control, maintenance control and commercial. "Gulf Air moved the maintenance control centre from Abu Dhabi in October and has recently introduced a commercial duty executive to the centre. Bringing the four departments together allows rapid decision making." Disruption can include adverse weather affecting airports and aircraft in-flight, air traffic control and crisis management. "The end result will be improved communications to our passengers and an increase to On Time Performance," he said. The staff manning the centre have many years experience in commercial aviation and have been highly trained to meet the demands of an international airline, said Powell. Meanwhile, the airline will resume twice-weekly flights between Bahrain and Peshawar in Pakistan from February 4.