Bahrain sets up special committee to resolve Gulf Air's future

Bahrain's government is to step in to help Gulf Air plan for its future, the chairman of the country's parliament has said.
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But according to the country’s English language daily newspaper, Gulf Daily News (GDN), this could include disbanding the airline all together.

The chairman, Khalifa Al Dhahrani, has formed a committee to prepare a study on the future of the kingdom's national carrier. But according

According to the GDN radical plans have already been drawn up which includes four proposals:

·      Dissolve the airline altogether,

·      sell it off and launch a new national carrier for Bahrain,

·      conduct a downsizing of the carrier

·      or allow it to continue in its current form with government support.  

The joint parliament and Shura Council committee has been tasked to study the government proposals

A spokeswoman from Gulf Air said:" Gulf Air’s business has faced challenges in recent times, in common with other carriers around the world. Combinations of unprecedented regional and economic factors have made business increasingly difficult; in particular, the regional political situation, the high price of fuel, low passenger numbers and the suspension of a number of destinations.

"Given this, Gulf Air, its shareholder Mumtalakat and the government, both through the Cabinet and Parliament, are all working towards a common goal – to secure Gulf Air’s long-term sustainability and to actively address the airline’s loss-making position. A range of strategic options are currently under consideration."

The GDN newspaper said that government documents had shown that selling off Gulf Air and building a new carrier from scratch, would cost the country $1.5bn

The documents also showed estimates that a downsizing operation could cost as much as $1.8bn which would be the cost of cancelling international agreements and paying off employees made redundant.

At last week's Bahrain International Airshow an anticipated order announcement for Bombardier C-Series aircraft failed to materialise leading to speculation of differences between the airline and the government funders.

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