The annual Gulf Air Cargo conference was opened this Wednesday to examine the airline's cargo capabilities. The two-day "Putting the World Under your Hands" conference was presided over by Gulf Air Cargo Department Manager, Mr. Ali Murtadha. The event coincided with celebrations to mark Gulf Air's 50th anniversary.
In his inaugural address, Mr. Murtadha disclosed that Gulf Air cargo activities expanded last year by 11 percent as compared to 1998 levels. For the first 3 month of 2000, indicators point to a sizeable increase in cargo activities compared to 1999 data (126 percent growth in January, 172 percent boost in February and 144 percent leap in March).
In 2000, Gulf Air intends to strengthen its services, with the addition of new measures such as 6 weekly flights to and from Singapore and Australia as of July 1. This will double the existing weekly number of schedules flights to these countries.
Further, Murtadha added that Gulf Air's New Express Service, 'Falcon Express Fright,' has been receiving increasing demand from agents, and the Airline intends to respond by expanding this service to include more international destinations.
The existing Gulf Air cargo fleet includes five Airbus A320 and six Airbus A340-300, as well as eight Boeing B767-300ER. The company is expected to add two more aircraft next month for cargo purposes, Akhbar Al-Khaleej Daily reported. The Gulf Air flight service network consists of 53 international destinations.
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
