23 Facts About Gulf Air

Gulf Air is the state-owned airline and the flag carrier of Bahrain, which was founded in 1950 by British Pilot Freddie Bosworth as Gulf Aviation.

Gulf Air is the sponsor of the Bahrain Grand Prix and Bahrain International Airshow.

In 1981, Gulf Air became an IATA member, and in the following year became the first international airline to land at Riyadh.

Original Gulf Air livery consisted of a white fuselage with three stripes: maroon brown, green and red with a golden falcon on the three-striped tail fin.

Services to Singapore, Sydney and Thiruvananthapuram were launched, Gulf Air thereby becoming the first Arab airline to fly to Australia.

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Gulf Air added services to Johannesburg and Melbourne in 1992, becoming the first Arab airline to fly directly to these cities.

In 1999, Gulf Air launched three new routes in northern Pakistan: Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar.

In May 2002, James Hogan became president and CEO of Gulf Air and instigated a restructuring and turnaround programme in response to a drastic fall in profits and increasing debt.

In 2003, Gulf Air introduced a new Landor Associates-designed gold and blue livery and, in June, established Gulf Traveller, a subsidiary, all-economy, full-service airline.

In 2004, Gulf Air introduced direct flights between Dubai and London, Muscat and London, and a daily service between Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah.

Gulf Air was placed on the IOSA registry following its successful completion of the IATA Operational Safety Audit .

Gulf Air changed its operations to a dual-hub basis between Bahrain and Muscat airports.

Gulf Air endeavoured to show continuing support for flights to Abu Dhabi from Bahrain and Muscat, connecting to the rest of the Gulf Air network, via advertisements placed in local newspapers.

On 6 November 2007, Gulf Air started its third daily non-stop flight to London Heathrow Airport from Bahrain.

On 3 July 2008, Gulf Air was announced as the official sponsor of London association football club, Queens Park Rangers.

On 1 March 2010, Gulf Air launched its new "Falcon Gold" cabin, a single premium cabin merging business and first class together, aimed at offering higher standards of comfort for the standard premium price.

In 2011, Gulf Air temporarily suspended flights to Iran, Iraq and Lebanon during the height of the Bahraini uprising.

On 12 November 2017, Gulf Air appointed former Croatia Airlines CEO Kresimir Kucko as the airline's new CEO.

In June 2017, Gulf Air suspended its flights to Qatar during the Qatar diplomatic crisis.

The airline's sole shareholder is the Gulf Air Group Holding Company, which holds the aviation assets of Bahrain Mumtalakat, the sovereign wealth fund of the government of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Gulf Air Group is the sole shareholder of the Bahrain Airport Company and Gulf Aviation Academy, and holds shares in other aviation sector entities, including Bahrain Airport Services, Bahrain Duty Free Company and Gulf Handling Company.

In 2011, due largely to political unrest in the state of Bahrain, Gulf Air lost BHD95 million, and the loss grew to BHD196 million in 2012.

Gulf Air was the first ever shirt sponsor of Chelsea F C in 1983 and 1984.