Gulf Air passengers 'harassed for cash'

Passengers on a Gulf Air flight from Kochi to Bahrain on Wednesday allegedly faced harassment by staff at the Indian airport and were asked to pay bogus charges of up to RS2000 (US$39). Authorities are believed to have demanded the extra cash as travellers were about to check in to board Gulf Air flight GF271, but most of the passengers were thought to be travelling without Indian currency. Airport staff reportedly refused to accept credit cards, and escorted some of the passengers to outside ATM machines so they could obtain the funds. According to Bahraini media, neither the airline nor the ticketing agencies had informed the passengers about the additional tax. Gulf Air did not respond to requests for comment when contacted by Arabian Business. This is the second time the state-backed airline has been pushed into the spotlight for the wrong reasons this week, after rumours of fraud and corruption among its employees were denied in an open letter on Sunday by the firm’s CEO. Samer Majali said allegations of "corruption" against the Gulf state’s biggest flag carrier were “void and completely false” in a statement to the media. Addressing the accusations separately and directly, he said the false claim that a female executive secretary earned a monthly salary of BD7,000 (US$19,000) was “ludicrous” and reports of mismanagement were totally “baseless”. The last 12 months have been particularly tough for Gulf Air, which has also been struggling to maintain profits since early 2011 when political unrest first broke out in Bahrain. In February this year the carrier said it was cancelling flights on underperforming routes, citing commercial reasons. It abandoned services to four destinations, Damascus, Athens, Milan and Kuala Lumpur, due to difficult economic circumstances and the ongoing unrest in the Arab world. It also alluded to the high price of fuel and low passenger numbers as grounds for cutting its services. The Gulf state’s second flag carrier Bahrain Air said in March it would be open to a merger with Gulf Air, should the government owned company also be interested. Media reports say Gulf Air continues to struggle financially, despite securing an US$80m loan in February from a unit of Mashreq Bank in Dubai.