PSA For Gulf Air In North America For Over 20 Years

History on Gulf Air

Historic Developments:

• 1950: Gulf Aviation Company is registered as a private shareholding company on 24 March.
  
  
• 1951-1970: BOAC (British Overseas Aircraft Corporation) becomes the major shareholder in Gulf Aviation.
  
  
• 1967: In-flight services introduced.
  
  
• 1970: London services begin in April, using the VC10.
  
  
• 1973: Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Oman, and Qatar governments purchase BOAC's shares.
  
  
• 1974: The Foundation Treaty is signed on 1 January and the Gulf Aviation Company becomes Gulf Air, the national carrier of the four states.
  
  
• 1976: L-1011 TriStars and B737s join the fleet. Staff complement increases to 4,000. Amman, Amsterdam, Athens, Baghdad, Bangkok, Beirut, Cairo, Colombo, Delhi, Dhaka, Hong Kong, Jeddah, Khartoum, Larnaca, Manila, Paris, Ras Al Khaimah, Sanaa are added to the network.
  
  
• 1981: Gulf Air becomes IATA member.
  
  
• 1982: Gulf Air is the first international airline permitted to land at Riyadh.
  
  
• 1985: Staff complement reaches 4,500, comprising 41 nationalities speaking 23 languages.
  
  
• 1987: The Gulf Aircraft Maintenance Company (Gamco) opens in Abu Dhabi.
  
  
• 1988: The Boeing B767 joins the fleet and services to Frankfurt, Istanbul, Damascus, Dar Es-Salaam, Fujairah and Nairobi are launched with services to Shiraz and Baghdad resumed.
  
  
• 1990: Gulf Air's 40th anniversary. The light blue and peach Balenciaga-designed uniform was introduced. Singapore, Sydney and Trivandrum are launched and Gulf Air becomes first Arab airline to fly to Australia. Beirut service is resumed.
  
  
• 1992: Gulf Air becomes first Arab airline to fly directly to Johannesburg and Melbourne.
  
  
• 1993: Gulf Air's Flight Simulator Centre is opened in Qatar in February. Services to Casablanca, Entebbe, Jakarta, Kilimanjaro, Madras, Rome, Sanaa, Zanzibar and Zurich are launched.
  
  
• 1994: The state-of-the-art Airbus A340-300 joins the fleet in May. Gulf Air signs a code-share agreement with American Airlines on flights between London and New York.
  
  
• 1996: Gulf Air signs a code-share agreement with Cyprus Airways on flights between Bahrain and Larnaca.
  
  
• 1997: Gulf Air launches its official Internet homepage at http:/www.gulfairco.com. The airline wins the Gulf Africa Merit of Distinction Duty Free Award for the third time. A code-share agreement with British Midland is signed for flights between London and Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Amsterdam, Teeside, Leeds/Bradford, Belfast.
  
  
• 1998: Flights to Nepal are launched. Gulf Air expands the code-share agreement with American Airlines and the GF code appears on AA-operated flights between London and New York , Chicago and Miami . A no-smoking policy is introduced on flights to Singapore and Australia . The airline wins the Gulf Africa Merit of Distinction Duty Free Award for the fourth time.
  
  
• 1999: Gulf Air launched three new routes in North Pakistan, Islamabad, Lahore, and Peshawar. A code-share agreement with Air Tanzania is signed to cover flights between Dar Es Salaam, Zanzibar, Muscat and Dubai. Gulf Air takes delivery of two (out of six) A330-200 aircraft. A new Balmain-designed uniform is introduced.
  
  
• 2000: Gulf Air's 50th Anniversary. Services to Milan are launched. The remaining Airbus A330-200 aircraft are taken into service in June.
  
  
• 2001: Gulf Air announces a code-share arrangement with Oman Air. American Airlines, Royal Air Maroc, Air Malta, British Midland, Cyprus Airways and Philippine Airlines are also participants.
  
  
• 2002: James Hogan is appointed as the new President and Chief Executive in May.
  
  The three-year restructuring and turnaround programme is launched with international and local management. An Executive Management Entry Programme and apprenticeship scheme is introduced.
  Gulf Air becomes first Middle East airline to introduce in-flight chefs to serve first class passengers. Gulf Air Holidays Arabian Experience programme is launched.
  
  AIMS the Airline Information Management System is implemented for flying crew on all Gulf Air flights. Gulf Air is the only airline in region to receive the Airbus Operational Excellence Award for 2000 / 2001 and Gulf Air and CFM International commemorate 10th anniversary of introduction of CFM56 engines into fleet and is awarded for becoming the CFM56-5C fleet leader in terms of engine cycles.
  
  The Gulf Air Board unanimously approves the three-year recovery plan at the Extraordinary General Meeting held on 18 December.
  
  
• 2003: Gulf Air unveils its new corporate identity in April as part of the progressive change management programme.
  
  Gulf Traveller, the all economy full service airline commences service out of Abu Dhabi in June.
  
  Gulf Air is the first Middle East airline to introduce self-service electronic check-in kiosks and SMS notification technology a downloadable version of the timetable.
  
  Code-share agreements are concluded with Air India and Saudi Arabian Airlines.
  
  Flights to Zanzibar are resumed in June and Cochin is added to the network of destinations.
  
  The new look frequent flyer programme is launched in September and the worldwide contact centre goes live at the Knowledge Oasis in Muscat, where state-of-the-art technology is used to route calls from the region to a single, central reservations system.
  
  Gulf Air announces its sponsorship of the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix to be held in April 2004.
  
  In a world first, Gulf Air introduces Norland-trained Sky Nannies to provide specialist child care on board long-haul flights.
  
  Direct daily flights to Athens and Sydney are introduced on 23 November.
  
  Following a commercial agreement with Indian Airlines, twice-weekly flights are started to Kolkata in West Bengal.
  
  
• 2004: Gulf Air's new First and Business Class lounge opens in Bahrain International Airport.
  
  The first Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix is held at the Bahrain International circuit in Sakhir at the beginning of April.
  
  Gulf Air is recognised with the prestigious Airline Turnaround of the Year Award by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) in 2003 and is selected as a one of the leading and most recognised brands in the UAE by the Superbrands Council. The airline also receives the top honour of a platinum award for being voted the Best Middle East and North Africa Airline at the 2004 Arabian Travel Market's inaugural MENA Awards. The airline is named the 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.
  
  Direct flights are introduced between Dubai and London and Muscat and London.
  
  A daily service between Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah is launched.
  
  Bookshop in the Sky is introduced In June 2004.
  
  A First and Business class lounge is opened at Terminal Three in Heathrow Airport.
  
  Commercial agreements are signed with KLM and Air Garuda.
  
  Gulf Air signs with Oman-based Macrosoft for the implementation of the Oracle e-Business suite.
  
  Gulf Air signs and agreement with Sabre inc in terms of which a new joint venture comes into being. Based in Bahrain, the Sabre Travel Network Middle East, will leverage the marketing and sales opportunities for Sabre's technology services, bookable travel products and distribution services for travel agencies, corporations and travel suppliers in the region.
  
  Gulf Air carries a record 7.5 million passengers during the year.
  
  
• 2005: Gulf Air's appetite for innovation is again recognised when the world's first Sky Nanny receives a commendation at the 2004 Gulf Marketing Review Marketing Effectiveness Awards in the Best New Product launch category.
  
  The airline celebrates its 55th birthday and in doing so reconfirms its position as the elder statesman and pioneer of the Middle East aviation industry, while demonstrating that 'age' is no barrier to enthusiasm and innovation.
  
  A return to profit announced with the best financial performance since 1997. Despite a BD30 million (USD80 million) cost to the business through fuel price rises during the year, Gulf Air recorded a profit of BD1.5 million (USD4.0 million) in the calendar year to December 2004, on revenues up 23.8 per cent to BD476.3 million (USD1.26 billion) (2003: BD 384.6 million / USD1,020.2 million).
  
  The results mean the airline out-performed the targets set under Project Falcon, the three-year restructuring plan approved by the Board in December 2002.
  
  Brand new office premises are opened in Abu Dhabi by His Highness Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority. In keeping with the new look and feel of the Gulf Air brand, the new premises better reflect that image and provide a luxurious, convenient one-stop shop for every Gulf Air customer's needs - from flights to holidays or cargo.
  
  Gulf Air's sponsorship of the Bahrain Formula 1 Grand Prix continued to reap dividends for the airline, with a record crowd, a global TV audience well as a record number of passengers being carried to the Kingdom by the airline from all corners of the globe for the 1-3 April 2005 race.
  
  A BD52 million (US$138 million), five-year contract for the provision of inventory and component maintenance services is signed with Lufthansa Technik.
  
  Gulf Air picks up its first ever Freddie for 'Best Award Redemption, Frequent Flyer Program, Europe/Middle East/Africa: and was highly commended in two other categories.
  
  Three new Holiday Experience Programmes are introduced for 2005, which provide the greatest choice and best value for money for holiday makers since the Gulf Air Holidays Experience theme was launched two years ago.
  
  In the World Airline Catering Awards published by Skytrax, Gulf Air clinches top position for both First and Business Class onboard catering on long-haul intercontinental flights.
  
  The owner states of Gulf Air - the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the Sultanate of Oman - today confirmed their support for further expansion of the airline, through a new three-year strategic plan which will include re-equipment of the aircraft fleet and recapitalisation of the business through private sector financing.
  
  It's official! Gulf Air goes barking mad as the airline's Pet Travel Scheme is extended to the UAE.
  
  A Code Share Agreemen codeshare agreement, is signed with Middle East Airlines which makes provision for codeshare flights between Abu Dhabi and Beirut to be operated by Middle East Airlines.
  
  An agreement is singed with AXA Insurance which makes for provision of the sale of holiday & travel insurance from the airline's sales offices.
  
  A daily, direct service between Cairo and Sydney is introduced offering a three-class service on daily flights to Sydney via Bahrain and Singapore.
  
  The number of Sky Chefs on board Gulf Air's long haul flights serving Europe, the Far East and Australasia passes the 100 mark.
  
  Two additional flights to and from Bangalore are introduced.
  
  New ground is broken with the opening of the first dedicated Gulf Air Holidays Shop in Seef Mall, Bahrain. The move follows the rapid growth in Gulf Air's holiday business.
  
  Gulf Air is placed on the IOSA registry following its successful completion of the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA).