Keith T 2 Report post Posted April 18, 2007 (edited) http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story...0-23349,00.html Gulf Air takes off for good Steve Creedy, Aviation writer April 19, 2007 FINDING a flight to Europe over the northern summer peak season will prove more difficult with the announcement by Gulf Air that it will no longer fly to Australia. Bahrain-based Gulf, which joins the exodus from Australia led by European airlines, will scrap its flights from Sydney from July 1. The airline, until recently headed by Australian expatriate James Hogan, says the decision is necessary if it is to survive. It is losing more than $US1 million ($1.2 million) a day. The tough cost-cutting program includes axing flights to Singapore, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Johannesburg and Dublin. "This is the first fundamental step to securing our future," new chief executive Andre Dose said. However, the loss of Gulf is counterbalanced by the arrival of Abu Dhabi-based Etihad. Etihad and Dubai's Emirates have both been given permission by the federal Government to expand services to Australia's major airports. But the Gulf decision comes at a time when airlines are shovelling more people into planes, meaning seats on some routes are becoming hard to find and fares are more expensive. Flight Centre spokesman Haydn Long said finding seats on capacity-constrained Pacific routes remained a problem and said bookings to Europe were strong. "Europe's peak season is obviously going to be a problem for us," he said. "You can still get there, but the cheap seats have sold fairly quickly and it's not always easy to get a seat." Edited April 18, 2007 by Keith T Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gavin Andrew David 6 Report post Posted April 18, 2007 They also axed KUL No more Gulf air here Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Seng Lim 0 Report post Posted April 18, 2007 According to their official press release, KUL wasn't in the axed list. http://www.gulfairco.com/press/newsEnglish...&newsid=755 "We will stop operating to our heavily loss-making long-haul services to Dublin, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Sydney and Singapore. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Keno Omar 0 Report post Posted April 18, 2007 (edited) I called up GF office about a month ago to book a flight to Dublin but was told that all bookings from KUL has been put on hold as they could not guarantee aircraft availability between KUL & MCT before 18 June the earliest. Now we know that's no longer true... Edited April 18, 2007 by Keno Omar Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pieter C. 5 Report post Posted April 18, 2007 Not only routes are axed, but staff as well Gulf Air To Cut 1,500 Jobs To Stem Losses April 17, 2007 Gulf Air, a loss-making airline based in Bahrain, said on Tuesday it would cut losses by shedding 25 percent of its work force, or about 1,500 jobs, a move that could send shockwaves through the Gulf kingdom. Chief Executive Andre Dose said the firm was losing more than USD$1 million a day and revealed a two-year plan to restructure the airline through a cash injection of 310 million Bahraini dinars (USD$822 million). Dose said the company would try to ease the social impact of the redundancies on Bahrain, a tiny island state, which will own 80 percent of the company after the cash injection. Part of the money will be used for the planned layoffs, which one analyst said was unheard of on such a scale in Bahrain, which along with Oman jointly owns Gulf Air. Layoffs at state-owned enterprises are virtually unknown in the world's top oil exporting region, where the six Gulf Arab states' ruling families use government jobs to redistribute wealth, win political loyalty and keep a lid on dissent. "There are going to be jobs lost, about 25 percent... We have to downsize the operation," Dose said, adding that some jobs would be lost through attrition. Earlier in April the firm said it had dismissed three vice presidents and a source at the firm said another two resigned. Most of the job cuts would be of cabin crew and staff stationed abroad, who include many foreigners, to minimize the impact on Bahrainis, Deputy Chairman Mahmood al-Kooheji said. Through the restructuring plan Dose said he hopes to save USD$175 million a year and increase revenue by USD$239 million. The plan includes slimming down Gulf Air's fleet to an all-Airbus fleet of 28 planes, from an original 34. The airline will sell its nine Boeing aircraft. It will replace these planes and add to the fleet by leasing or buying four new Airbus aircraft by early 2008 and eight others by the beginning of 2010, Dose said. "It is our goal to complete that by 2009, early 2010... We're looking at the best solution in terms of cost. Both options are on the table," he said, but he did not say how much money he expected to make from the Boeing sale. Part of the USD$822 million cash injection will be used to improve the fleet. Kooheji said the airline would be speaking to banks to raise the cash as well as tap the airline's shareholders. He declined to say how much the company was hoping to raise from banks but said it would be approaching them within weeks. Kooheji and Dose identified network inefficiency as a key problem, and said they would be cutting services to Sydney, Hong Kong, Singapore, Johannesburg, Jakarta and Dublin and will instead increase the firm's focus on the Middle East. One Bahraini analyst welcomed the move as a sign Bahrain was serious about tackling corruption and making state-owned firms commercially viable. "There are hundreds of contracts Gulf Air has made which do not benefit the company, only some employees, and there are lots of imaginary jobs... It's the first time something like this has happened in Bahrain," analyst and newspaper editor Mansoor Al-Jamri said. Another analyst warned of unrest in the kingdom, where many already complain of unemployment, and jobless youths clash with police on almost a weekly basis. "This is going to be a big problem because we already have unemployment in Bahrain. It has created restlessness, and if we are going to add a large number of unemployed you are going to increase that restlessness," former minister Ali Fakhro said. (Reuters) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KK Lee 5 Report post Posted April 18, 2007 GF is not known to be a better airline from the Middle East. Cabin service at best is comparable with BA or BCal. Once, despite arrived 6 hours before connecting flight and confirmed ticket, we were bump off GF flight from DXB. While EK is doing well, it is not at all surprise that GF is losing money. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pieter C. 5 Report post Posted April 18, 2007 Cabin service at best is comparable with BA Would not be that bad, as BA was just voted as "Airline of the Year" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Keith T 2 Report post Posted April 18, 2007 (edited) Would not be that bad, as BA was just voted as "Airline of the Year" BA has a very strange strategy. It's spent lots of money on upgrading its business and premium economy product, nothing on economy - and is steadily running First into the ground. It's got to a point where airlines which were once regarded inferior like Lufty now have a much superior product to BA First. They are right to focus on the cabins where yields are high, but it is at the expense of the other products. Food is not the best on BA either - they spend much less on food than other major airlines. Once their overall product is considered equal or better than QF, but I'd now much rather fly QF across all classes. BA's premium economy product and the Club World beds are the only saving grace. Edited April 18, 2007 by Keith T Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kandiah k 0 Report post Posted April 19, 2007 So GF is out so soon from KUL ? If true, thats really sad because they just began code sharing with MH on some routes. We loose one and gain another.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gavin Andrew David 6 Report post Posted April 19, 2007 Was at the airport the other day and didn't see gulf on both days Not scheduled either Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Radzi 2 Report post Posted April 19, 2007 Haven't see them in KUL for quite a while now... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yeung H 0 Report post Posted April 19, 2007 from my observation,GF load from KUL really isn't bad at all... Why they want to cut KUL? too bad for spotters.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Seth K 3 Report post Posted April 19, 2007 Why GF wants to cut KUL? No news that they are gone either....................... Btw, does QR two daily flight per day in addition of Bali? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peter Smith 1 Report post Posted April 19, 2007 GF currently have 4 of their A343's grounded, and their problems don't seem to come with a quick fix. As a result a lot of GF148/149 BAH-SIN-SYD rtn have been cancelled. GF was hit hard by Abu Dhabi pulling its stake out when Etihad was formed. Best of luck to them Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Darren Liew 0 Report post Posted April 20, 2007 Yes agreed. Was always told that BA stood for "Bad Always" but I did not believe that until i rode with them 3 times and that was it. First flight I ever had with them was from Eastern Europe to LHR. The pilot almost crashed the B757 the way he landed and that was one of the worst landings I ever had. Even the lousy one I had on QF as a student going to Melbourne from Singapore pales in comparison to that. Then another flight the flight was bumpy(I guess the pilot doesnt know how to read his weather radar and probably thought that flying through the red was considered good luck). After that they screwed up my mother and sister`s luggage. Out of all my years of flying that was the first time I have had that nasty experience of arriving in a foreign land without clothes. Well out of the couple of times I flew with them, I found their flying to be really bad(kudos to MH pilots! You guys do a much better job!) and the inflight service to be rude and the food in EY really sucked. I guess they follow the SQ or was it SQ following their formula of upgrading the first and business class to industry standards and ignoring the EY passengers. I guess once again MH can be complimented on not forgetting where their bulk of business comes from which is the economy class. BA has a very strange strategy. It's spent lots of money on upgrading its business and premium economy product, nothing on economy - and is steadily running First into the ground. It's got to a point where airlines which were once regarded inferior like Lufty now have a much superior product to BA First. They are right to focus on the cabins where yields are high, but it is at the expense of the other products. Food is not the best on BA either - they spend much less on food than other major airlines. Once their overall product is considered equal or better than QF, but I'd now much rather fly QF across all classes. BA's premium economy product and the Club World beds are the only saving grace. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nick R. 0 Report post Posted April 20, 2007 They also axed KUL No more Gulf air here from my observation,GF load from KUL really isn't bad at all... Why they want to cut KUL? too bad for spotters.... GF is still here, & they're sending the 340 now.Just restarted their schedule yesterday albeit arriving late. The 1 month offline was due to issues on their 767s. Load wise,i can say 60-65% (previously) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Edwin Lau 0 Report post Posted April 20, 2007 GF is still here, & they're sending the 340 now.Just restarted their schedule yesterday albeit arriving late. The 1 month offline was due to issues on their 767s. Load wise,i can say 60-65% (previously) What happened to the 767s? Sad then GF would not be flying to SIN anymore. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gavin Andrew David 6 Report post Posted April 20, 2007 Yeap just checked and tomorrow gulf air is flying in with A340 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nick R. 0 Report post Posted April 20, 2007 If based on what we were told by the GF rep, GF techies found corrosion on one of the 767,so they ground the whole fleet Dunno true or not. Anyways no more issue FIM (Flight Interruption Manifest) for me then <_> Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
T Azahan 1 Report post Posted April 20, 2007 hope gulf will return to better days. quite tough though as she is competing with funky emirates, etihad and qatar. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Imran K. 0 Report post Posted April 20, 2007 If based on what we were told by the GF rep, GF techies found corrosion on one of the 767,so they ground the whole fleet Dunno true or not. Anyways no more issue FIM (Flight Interruption Manifest) for me then <_> Yup...my sources confirmed that. Maintenance in Bahrain is very so-so la... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kee Hooi Yen 0 Report post Posted April 21, 2007 GF is still here, & they're sending the 340 now.Just restarted their schedule yesterday albeit arriving late. The 1 month offline was due to issues on their 767s. Load wise,i can say 60-65% (previously) Btw, what is the industry average load factor for a route to breakeven ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KK Lee 5 Report post Posted April 21, 2007 (edited) KUL is saved by Arab tourists visiting KL in the summer. However, decision is yet to make for winter schedule. Breakeven load is depending on airline cost structure and yield. Anything from 60% to 70%. Edited April 21, 2007 by KK Lee Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Edwin Lau 0 Report post Posted April 21, 2007 KUL is saved by Arab tourists visiting KL in the summer. However, decision is yet to make for winter schedule. Breakeven load is depending on airline cost structure and yield. Anything from 60% to 70%. Saved by the tourists Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Raj 0 Report post Posted April 21, 2007 Talking About Gulf Air.. Their A340 made a damm low approach into KUL today. Was flying really low over klang. It was in the Golden Livery Very Quiet and Fast! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
