Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, Kingdom of Bahrain and Sultanate of Oman Sunday announced the expansion of its international network with the introduction of non-stop flights from Abu Dhabi International Airport to Birmingham International Airport, commencing early next year.
The new route will be operated by Gulf Traveller, the airline’s all-economy full service subdivision, which operates throughout the Arabian Gulf region, the Indian Subcontinent and Far East Asia. Since its establishment in June 2003, the division has contributed significantly to Gulf Air’s financial position.
The addition of the direct flights to Birmingham will further bolster Gulf Traveller’s position, which in the first six months of this year registered growth with an average seat factor of 75 per cent.
Flights start on 1 April 2005 and will be operated with a Boeing 767-300ER. The Abu Dhabi to Birmingham service will commence with four services per week (Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays) until 20 June when frequencies will be increased to a daily operation.
James Hogan, President and Chief Executive at Gulf Air said the new service is a further illustration of Gulf Air’s commitment to provide the best possible service to its customers.
“We’ve done our research. The service will offer the shortest elapsed time between the UK's industrial heartland and Abu Dhabi. The schedule has been planned to provide improved connections to major Indian Sub-Continent and Far East Asian destinations, and will therefore meet the travel requirements of vacationers as well as businessmen in all three centres, enhancing commercial and leisure travel links. In addition, overseas students attending universities in the centre of England and the Asian communities in this region will also benefit," he said.
The addition of the Abu Dhabi to Birmingham service increases Gulf Air’s daily direct flights from the Gulf to the UK to six. Gulf Air currently operates five daily flights from the Gulf to London Heathrow, and the addition of the Birmingham service will bring the number of weekly flights operated by the airline to 41. (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
