Bahrain’s flag-carrier is putting its faith in a customer offering based on convenient connections and a strong on-board product on a young Airbus narrowbody and Boeing 787 fleet, while playing its part in boosting tourism and investment into the kingdom
Some might argue that Gulf Air has struggled to establish its identity in a region dominated by some of the industry’s biggest hub-and-spoke connectors – with well-funded debutants such as Riyadh Air moving in. The question has long been: does the Bahrain-owned operator, which marks its 75th anniversary next year, aspire to compete with these global airline brands or hunker down as a short-haul specialist with a small number of long-haul routes?
Jeffrey Goh – who arrived in January last year to head Gulf Air Group, the holding company for Gulf Air and its associated companies – says he has “no ambition to fly to every corner of the Earth”.
However, he believes the one-time four-nation flag-carrier can strengthen its position with a gameplan based on select long-haul route development and a timetable of frequent and reliable regional connections. Other priorities include offering the region’s best on-board experience on one of its youngest fleets, and helping to drive tourism, business and investment into Bahrain.
“We’re running on all pistons for a transformational pivot on the airline” is how the former Star Alliance chief describes the task. That pivot, well underway, includes a fleet overhaul – likely to be complete by next year although with the prospect of additional widebody orders to come – and “a very focused strategy around connectivity and customer service excellence”.
For the moment, Goh is performing the airline chief executive role on an acting basis, combining it with the group CEO position, where he also oversees Bahrain airport operator BAC, Bahrain Duty Free, and training provider GAA. He will not be drawn on a timetable for a successor to Capt Waleed Al Alawi, who retired earlier this year after four years in charge, saying it is a decision for the Gulf Air Group board.
Goh says one of Gulf Air’s biggest strengths is the youthfulness of its aircraft, which are on average 6.3 years old. The fleet revamp – which has involved replacing Airbus A330s with Boeing 787-9s and A320ceo aircraft with CFM Leap-powered A320neos and A321LRs – has seen the arrival of 10 new aircraft last year and two this year, with six A320s and two 787s to come.
As of end-September, its fleet comprised 10 787s, 14 A321LRs, six A320neos, four A321ceos, and eight A320ceos. Goh expects to hold onto most of the older-generation narrowbodies for around three more years – “That’s longer than we expected, but, like everyone, we are struggling to maintain capacity given the supply chain problems [impacting new aircraft deliveries],” he says. However, he maintains that Gulf Air’s fleet is young compared with that of many of its counterparts.
The A321LRs – with 16 lie-flat seats in business as well as 150 in economy – allow the airline to operate the narrowbody on two-class, mid-haul routes to the likes of Frankfurt, the Maldives, Milan, Nice, Paris and Rome. However, while he says the airline is “comfortable” with the size and shape its of single-aisle fleet, he does hint at the need for “additional widebodies” at some point.
He describes Gulf Air’s network objectives as “a disciplined ambition for growth to east and west, not just connecting east and west but bringing people into Bahrain and supporting our national tourism strategy”. Around 70% of Gulf Air passengers currently connect through Bahrain, although this is a proportion Goh and his colleagues want to bring down by encouraging more stays in the kingdom. “A lot of developments are happening in the tourism sector, and we are playing a part in that,” he says.
The USA remains a major gap in Gulf Air’s destination map – in fact there are no direct US services by any airline into Bahrain. However, Goh says that while stateside schedules remain a “serious consideration and have been for some time”, the airline is also looking at “lots of other parts of the world as well as where we can increase frequencies”.
PARTNER STRATEGY
Like its regional counterparts Emirates and Etihad, Gulf Air is not a member of a global alliance. However, it does have codeshares and informal partnerships with several carriers, including an agreement with Etihad signed in 2021 that allows Gulf Air to offer 30 combined destinations with the Abu Dhabi-based operator. “We have been very clear on the importance of our partner network,” says Goh.
Recent route additions have included Shanghai and Guangzhou – its first cities served in China – as well as the reintroduction of services to Najaf in Iraq, a popular pilgrimage destination for Bahrain’s community of Shi’a Muslims. In July, it boosted its European network with four weekly flights to Munich.
“We have spent time redefining the principles of our network, and we are looking to build from there,” says Goh. “Over the course of the next five years, you will see several more announcements.”
He believes that Gulf Air’s cabin offering – particularly in business class – is maintaining loyalty among regular passengers and winning converts. “Our performance on our Guangzhou and Shanghai services has been better than we expected, which we pin down to on-board service,” says Goh.
A programme of “elevating the customer experience” includes free wi-fi on all long-haul flights where it is available, including on its A321LRs. Additionally, a pre-order meal service for business class passengers – offering around a dozen items on top of the standard on-board menu – will be rolled out “in due course” to inbound flights to Bahrain after a successful introduction on outbound journeys.
An 80-inch pitch in business class gives Gulf Air “one of the most luxurious” products on the market, while other parts of the mix include an enhanced in-flight entertainment offer, and new range of chinaware and glassware. “We pride ourselves on our Arabic hospitality, though our crews are from all over the world,” says Goh, who will maintain the momentum with the arrival of a new chief customer experience officer later this year.
GROUP APPROACH
Gulf Air represents around three-quarters of the Gulf Air Group’s revenues and is “our flying billboard, our brand equity”, says Goh. However, he says the other businesses in the portfolio – which was established under the ownership of state investment house Mumtalakat in 2010 – create a “cohesive entity”. The group owns a 44% stake in ground handling, line maintenance, and staff resource provider Bahrain Airport Services.
Having the recently revamped airport as part of the group is “great for seamlessness”, says Goh, even if it means that some of his airline customers as owner of the airport are direct rivals of Gulf Air. “To foster greater connectivity, we want as many airlines as possible flying into Bahrain,” he says. “We welcome competition.” His role, he states, is “to choreograph everything”.
Gulf Air’s pre-eminence in the region began to unravel in the mid-2000s, when – partly in response to the success of Emirates, launched by Dubai a decade earlier – the governments of Qatar (Qatar Airways), Abu Dhabi (Etihad) and Oman (Oman Airways) left the partnership to focus on their own new flag-carriers, leaving Bahrain as sole shareholder.
That break-up is, of course, now long in the past and Gulf Air’s mission today, says Goh, is to “be a positive contributor to Bahrain’s GDP and ensuring Bahrain is firmly on the international map”. In terms of its share of a competitive regional market, his ambition is to “retain a slice of the pie big enough to allow us to participate in a part of the world that is peppered with large airlines”.
