Gulf Air begins services to Aden

Thursday, 30 September 2010 11:20 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Gulf Air, the national carrier of Bahrain, has launched flights to Aden, making the airline the first carrier in the region to commence service to the commercial capital of Yemen.

“Bahrain’s links with Yemen have been historical as both were prominent seafaring countries for decades,” said Maher Al Musallam, Gulf Air Deputy Chief Executive Officer.

“Gulf Air has been linking Yemen for nearly 35 years since we started our services to the capital Sana’a in 1976. This has been further strengthened today as we add Aden to our growing network of destinations.”

“We strongly believe there is a huge commercial and tourism potential in Aden; with the presence of the largest port in the country, just four nautical miles from the second largest shipping corridor in the world, a free trade zone, a transshipment point, a modern port, and a renovated airport. Aden is well positioned to grow as a hub of manufacturing, real estate/land development, transshipment and tourism,” he added.

“In addition, the historic Hadhramaut’s cultural heritage, Socotra island’s unique bio-diversity and the beautiful seafront city Mukalla situated in between, Yemen’s tourism is bound to grow as another important economic growth sector of the country,” Al Musallam continued.

“I am proud of the fact that Gulf Air has established a leadership position as the first Gulf carrier to connect Aden to the region as currently no other Gulf carriers are serving this city.”

“Gulf Air’s new strategy is to identify and connect under-served and niche markets that present business potential to grow and, create potentially high yield city-pairs by providing direct service to Bahrain and beyond. The launching of our services to 11 new destinations in the past 14 months is a clear demonstration of this strategy,” he added.

“Our aim is to serve every regional capital with at least a double-daily service and to generate a new market of travellers, who wish to conduct their business in the region and return home the same day.”

Gulf Air will operate four weekly flights from Bahrain to Aden via Sana’a.