It’s an thrilling week for Gulf Air. Not solely has the airline introduced plans to fly to New York (JFK), however the Bahrain-based service has additionally signed an settlement to greater than double its large physique fleet.
Gulf Air vastly increasing Boeing 787 fleet
Up till now, Gulf Air’s large physique fleet has consisted of a complete of 10 Boeing 787-9s, with a further two of these jets on order. It has now been introduced that Gulf Air has ordered as much as 18 further Boeing 787s, with 12 agency orders and 6 choices.
Which means Gulf Air now has a agency order for twenty-four Dreamliners, with the potential for bumping that as much as 30 jets. The variants for the extra jets haven’t but been introduced, so it’s not clear if the extra Dreamliners will all be 787-9s, or if we may see new variants launched. Moreover, the supply timeline additionally hasn’t been revealed.
For context, past the Boeing 787s, Gulf Air’s fleet in any other case consists of practically three dozen Airbus A320-family plane, together with the A320, A320neo, A321, A321neo, and A321LR.
Right here’s how Gulf Air Chairman Khalid Taqi describes this newest Boeing order:
“This settlement marks a transformative step in Gulf Air’s strategic progress journey as we broaden our international footprint and modernize our fleet with one of many trade’s most superior and environment friendly plane. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has confirmed to be an distinctive plane for our long-haul operations, and this new order displays our confidence in its efficiency, passenger attraction and contribution to our sustainability targets. We’re proud to deepen our partnership with Boeing and reaffirm our dedication to positioning Bahrain as a key international aviation hub.”
Gulf Air has some fairly lofty enlargement plans
As an airline geek, I can’t assist however briefly replicate on the historical past of Gulf Air. Gulf Air was the most important and most international airline within the Gulf area. The airline was based in 1974, when Bahrain, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, and Oman, acquired collectively to put money into current Bahraini airline Gulf Aviation, to create a flag service for the 4 states.
Suffice it to say that the dynamics within the area modified, and that basically began with Dubai launching Emirates in 1985, chipping away at Gulf Air’s market share and dominance (Emirates President Tim Clark truly labored at Gulf Air till he was a part of the crew that began Emirates). In fact we then additionally noticed Qatar launch Qatar Airways, Abu Dhabi launch Etihad, and Oman launch Oman Air.
As that occurred, Gulf Air’s significance within the area continued to shrink, because it struggled to compete with friends and innovate. The airline had an outdated fleet, and didn’t have a worldwide route community. I’d argue that a number of years in the past, the service mainly turn out to be irrelevant as a connecting service.
So it’s attention-grabbing to now see Gulf Air closely centered on progress. The airline has been positively reworking its passenger expertise, and in addition has a pleasant new terminal at its hub. I’m curious to what extent this enlargement shall be profitable:
- Even when Gulf Air doubles its Dreamliner fleet, the airline will nonetheless solely be a fraction of the scale of it Gulf friends
- This enlargement comes at a time the place the area is seeing large progress, starting from the launch of Riyadh Air, to Indian carriers (Air India and IndiGo) making an attempt to regain market share that has shifted to Gulf carriers lately
I’m curious if these further Gulf Air planes are used for extremely lengthy haul enlargement (extra flights to america, Australia, and many others.), or if we simply see a deeper community in Asia and Europe.
Admittedly turning a direct revenue on flights with this enlargement could be a secondary objective. In any case, international connectivity has broader financial advantages, so when an airline is authorities owned, it’s not essentially a foul thought to broaden, even when it’s circuitously worthwhile.
Backside line
Gulf Air has simply positioned a brand new Boeing 787 order. The service beforehand had 12 of those planes on order (with 10 of these already within the fleet), and has now positioned an order for as much as 18 extra of these jets, with 12 being agency, and 6 being choices.
This represents an enormous enlargement for the Bahrain-based firm, and I’m curious to be taught extra in regards to the supply timeline, and what precisely the service’s technique shall be.
What do you make of Gulf Air’s Boeing 787 order?
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