GULF AIR TO CLOSE MORE ROUTES
Gulf Air has announced that following the closure of their routes to Entebbe and Geneva two weeks ago, a further four routes will be shelved from March onwards. Affected are Athens and Damascus, both in the bad news over political troubles, but also Milan and Kuala Lumpur which have also not performed to financial expectations. Juba, Southern Sudans capital city, has also been affected as the planned start of flights has been delayed for the time being until changed circumstances permit the route to be reconsidered.
Gulf Airs Chief Executive, when making the announcement, said: It is currently a challenging business environment for airlines around the world. These closures are pragmatic commercial decisions aimed at focusing services on routes with higher passenger traffic. Our commercial strategy, developed in 2009, delivered significant gains in 2010 but last year has been challenging. Therefore, we are now adapting our approach to address the challenges on an urgent basis.
A further statement from the airline also points to the local and regional political situation, the high price of fuel and lower than anticipated passenger numbers.
The daily flights between Bahrain and Nairobi will however continue and, according to an airline source, are performing above expectations, offering Kenyans and travelers from the East African region the option to connect to Gulf Air at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
