Gulf Air to spread wings in Europe

Gulf Air, Bahrain's state-owned carrier, plans new routes in the Middle East and Europe to add service to financial centres, chairman Talal Al Zain said. The 400 million dinars (Dh3.86 billion) that the kingdom injected into Gulf Air last year has helped "very much" as the carrier reorganises, Al Zain said in an interview at his office in Manama."Even though we are streamlining the airline, we wanted Gulf Air to reach more destinations," as well as adding flights on existing routes, Al Zain, who is also chief executive officer of the Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding sovereign-wealth fund that owns the airline, said yesterday, without specifying any cities. Gulf Air is one of the Middle East's oldest carriers with roots dating back to 1950. Bahrain has become the sole owner as neighbouring countries in the Gulf dropped out to form their own airlines.Gulf Air is in the midst of a three- year reorganisation to restore profit as it confronts rivals in the region such as Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways. The Bahraini carrier is one of more than 35 companies in which Mumtalakat owns stakes. The fund was established in 2006 as an independent holding company for the kingdom's government-owned businesses outside the oil and gas industries. Gulf Air, like other airlines, is a "challenging asset," as conditions such as fuel prices or natural disasters hurt business, Al Zain said.At the same time, the carrier is one of "the most important assets we have" as part of the Bahraini government's infrastructure policy to attract global players to set up operations in the island nation, he said. Mumtalakat was removed from CreditWatch negative by Standard & Poor's debt-rating company last month.S&P cited "the diminished near-term political tensions and our expectation that increased public spending will lift economic growth next year" in Bahrain. From / Gulf News