Loss-making Gulf Air to downsize fleet, employees

Mumbai, Apr 17: Losing over a million dollars a day, Gulf Air has decided to downsize its fleet by 25 per cent, reduce workforce, shut heavily loss-making long-haul services and invest USD 825 million to turnaround the national career of Bahrain and Oman in next two years.

The company will downsize its fleet from 34 to 28 aircraft, reduce its 6000-strong workforce and stop operating '' heavily loss-making'' services to Dublin, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Sydney and Singapore to achieve its financial and operational goals, Gulf Air board's deputy chairman Mahmood Al Koohji said today.

The company will also move to an all-Airbus fleet by retiring the entire Boeing B-767 fleet, he disclosed at a press conference held at the company headquarters in Muharraq. Gulf Air will replace a part of its Airbus A-340 fleet by five new Airbus A-330 aircraft, a press release quoting him added.

Gulf Air's accumulated losses and costs would amount to USD 675 million, Mr Al Kooheji said.

He said first phase of revamping and restructuring would cost USD 319 million, focussing on closing the airline's current profitability gap of USD 414 million, creating a network that serves better the needs of the Bahrain and Oman business community and increasing its customer service level.

In the second phase, the company will invest USD 505 million to improve the quality of its product on the ground and in the air, he added.

UNI