Gulf Air has been chosen as the 'Best New Entrant Airline' for 2005 by Athens International Airport (AIA) at its recent annual conference held in Athens.
Gulf Air was also ranked 12 amongst all airlines operating in and out of Greece based on seat factor, the top airline to Middle East, way ahead of other airlines in the Middle East.
"We are indeed very delighted to be chosen for the award within one year of starting our operation to Greece. Our traffic to and from Greece has shown a remarkable growth of 49 percent," says Gulf Air Vice President Network Fareed Al Alawi.
"We are also the largest carrier in 2005 to Middle East with Bahrain being the fastest growing Middle Eastern destination from Greece as revealed during the conference."
The Athens International Airport holds an annual airline marketing conference in which awards are presented by AIA to airlines that recorded the highest passenger development in 2005, in recognition of their contribution to the airport’s overall record growth.
Awards are presented in various categories of geographical region, thin route, best performing newcomer and the best of the top-ten airlines.
"Gulf Air's significant growth in this sector has been fuelled by our ability to serve the Greek-Australian community and visiting friends and relatives from both countries, in close co-operation with Olympic Airways," adds Gulf Air Vice President Marketing and Sales Danny Barranger.
"Another factor is that we were able to impress upon the Greek population to use Gulf Air for their business and leisure travel and, our convenient connectivity to the Indian Subcontinent has helped us serve the expatriate population in Greece in linking them to their homeland."
Gulf Air started its service to Athens from Bahrain in November 2003 with daily A 320 flights and has been witnessing healthy passenger growth ever since. In order to meet the summer demands, Gulf Air will be increasing its capacity from Athens by an additional 200 seats a day. This will support the increased demand from the local market as well as visiting customers.
"The award is a reflection of the dedication and effort the Gulf Air Greece team has put during the last two years," says Mr Barranger.
"But more importantly, it reflects the effective acceptance of Gulf Air brand in this market and, the support of the travel trade in Greece for Gulf Air.
"This award is just the beginning and we will make every effort to build on this achievement with our customer-focussed innovations and services and will continue to remain the airline of choice for this market.”
About Gulf Air
Founded in 1950, Gulf Air, owned by the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Sultanate of Oman, is the only truly Pan Gulf carrier in the Middle East region.
The regional, geographic and cultural values that the airline has embraced over more than half a century are still central to defining its brand and service ethos.
Today the airline’s network stretches from Europe to Asia and covers 50 cities in 30 countries. The fleet comprises 34 aircraft and has the distinct advantage of possessing the strongest network across the Middle East.
A platform for sustained commercial operation has been established over the past three years as part of a multi-phased turnaround programme. It has also provided a framework for a succession of innovative products and services including the unique Sky Chefs and Sky Nannies that form part of Gulf Air’s ’smart airline, successful business’ vision.
International recognition has been achieved as a result of the turnaround programme leading to numerous awards for the airline’s innovative and high quality products and services:
These include:
• Best Onboard Catering in First and Business Class (Skytrax World Airline Catering Awards 2005)
• Best designed in-flight magazine (American Creativity Awards,2005)
• Middle East Leading First Class Airline (World Travel Awards 2005)
• World’s Leading Airport Lounge (World Travel Awards 2005)
• Middle East & North African Platinum Best Airline (MENA Travel Awards 2004
• Most Improved Airline (Skytrax Awards 2004)
• Middle East First Class Airline (Arabian Business Awards)
• Best new product launch for in-flight services (PAX international Readership Awards)
• Best First Class Onboard Food (Skytrax Food Category 2004)
• Best Business Class Check-in (Skytrax Check-in Category 2004)
• Middle East region’s best airport restaurant for its restaurant in Bahrain International Airport lounge (PAX International Readership Awards 2005)
