18 October 2011
MUSCAT: Gulf Air, Bahrain's national carrier, yesterday rolled out a gamut of commercial initiatives specific to the Omani market.
Spelling out the initiatives to meet the emerging challenges, Gulf Air's Chief Executive Officer Samer Majali said, "Among the initiatives are trips with discounted fares from Muscat to select Europe and Middle East destinations; introduction of Sky Hub technology on-board its flights with fully-integrated broadband connectivity offering high speed Internet; roaming calls; streaming videos and the world's first in-flight live TV satellite stream across continents; schemes like Falcon corporate Plus, Falconflyer, FamilyFirst and Travel Agents Initiatives; and addition of flights to new destinations. Our first flight to Oman was in 1957 and with 28 flights per week and 413 connecting flights via Bahrain per week, Oman remains a strategic route and market for the airline today."
Tailored to meet the needs of the growing number of corporate passengers travelling from Oman, Gulf Air is soon launching Falcon Corporate Plus, a package designed exclusively for corporate travellers -- offering a range of benefits. Gulf Air expects to get 100 corporate accounts in Oman by the year-end.
The airline is also designing an innovative programme, specifically for small and medium enterprises in Oman, that offers a range of incentives, including a double bonanza by which both the organisations and their employees earn miles that can be redeemed for free flights, upgrades, etc.
Inflight connectivity
Of Gulf Air's latest commercial initiatives, the 'Sky Hub' offers the world's first full connectivity on-board long-haul flights with high speed Internet, 3G-4G mobile data speed connectivity, voice over the Internet (VoIP), streaming videos and the world's first in-flight live TV via satellite.
Passengers can stay connected in the sky for approximately RO9.6 for 24 hours.
Flights to Far East have already been fitted with Sky Hub technology and another flight to Europe will soon be equipped with this facility. Gulf Air expects to have its entire fleet fitted with this facility within six months.
Among the new destinations/routes that Gulf Air has started its operations this year are Isfahan (Iran), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Milan (Italy), Geneva (Switzerland), Basra (Iraq), Kabul (Afghanistan), Copenhagen (Denmark) and Nairobi (Kenya), while Rome (Italy), Entebba (Uganda) and Juba (south Sudan) will be soon added to the new destinations.
As part of its network strategy to expand into niche markets, Gulf Air started its services to eight new destinations since January 2011 -- in Europe, Africa and Middle East -- and recently announced services to three more destinations -- Rome, the Italian capital, from November 30, Entebbe in Uganda from December 5 and Juba, the current capital of South Sudan from February 7.
Long-term strategy
Samer Majali said that increasing regional connections and investing in tailored products for the Oman market are on the agenda for the future.
The airline also aims to double its daily services to all capitals in the GCC and MENA region.
Gulf Air is well positioned to connect Muscat to several key destinations in the region with multiple daily flights, 28 weekly flights and good connectivity via Bahrain to key destinations.
The promotional 'Top Trips' discount for travellers on select flights to Europe and the Middle East ends on October 26 and is valid for travel up to the end of November 2011.
MUSCAT: Gulf Air, Bahrain's national carrier, yesterday rolled out a gamut of commercial initiatives specific to the Omani market.
Spelling out the initiatives to meet the emerging challenges, Gulf Air's Chief Executive Officer Samer Majali said, "Among the initiatives are trips with discounted fares from Muscat to select Europe and Middle East destinations; introduction of Sky Hub technology on-board its flights with fully-integrated broadband connectivity offering high speed Internet; roaming calls; streaming videos and the world's first in-flight live TV satellite stream across continents; schemes like Falcon corporate Plus, Falconflyer, FamilyFirst and Travel Agents Initiatives; and addition of flights to new destinations. Our first flight to Oman was in 1957 and with 28 flights per week and 413 connecting flights via Bahrain per week, Oman remains a strategic route and market for the airline today."
Tailored to meet the needs of the growing number of corporate passengers travelling from Oman, Gulf Air is soon launching Falcon Corporate Plus, a package designed exclusively for corporate travellers -- offering a range of benefits. Gulf Air expects to get 100 corporate accounts in Oman by the year-end.
The airline is also designing an innovative programme, specifically for small and medium enterprises in Oman, that offers a range of incentives, including a double bonanza by which both the organisations and their employees earn miles that can be redeemed for free flights, upgrades, etc.
Inflight connectivity
Of Gulf Air's latest commercial initiatives, the 'Sky Hub' offers the world's first full connectivity on-board long-haul flights with high speed Internet, 3G-4G mobile data speed connectivity, voice over the Internet (VoIP), streaming videos and the world's first in-flight live TV via satellite.
Passengers can stay connected in the sky for approximately RO9.6 for 24 hours.
Flights to Far East have already been fitted with Sky Hub technology and another flight to Europe will soon be equipped with this facility. Gulf Air expects to have its entire fleet fitted with this facility within six months.
Among the new destinations/routes that Gulf Air has started its operations this year are Isfahan (Iran), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Milan (Italy), Geneva (Switzerland), Basra (Iraq), Kabul (Afghanistan), Copenhagen (Denmark) and Nairobi (Kenya), while Rome (Italy), Entebba (Uganda) and Juba (south Sudan) will be soon added to the new destinations.
As part of its network strategy to expand into niche markets, Gulf Air started its services to eight new destinations since January 2011 -- in Europe, Africa and Middle East -- and recently announced services to three more destinations -- Rome, the Italian capital, from November 30, Entebbe in Uganda from December 5 and Juba, the current capital of South Sudan from February 7.
Long-term strategy
Samer Majali said that increasing regional connections and investing in tailored products for the Oman market are on the agenda for the future.
The airline also aims to double its daily services to all capitals in the GCC and MENA region.
Gulf Air is well positioned to connect Muscat to several key destinations in the region with multiple daily flights, 28 weekly flights and good connectivity via Bahrain to key destinations.
The promotional 'Top Trips' discount for travellers on select flights to Europe and the Middle East ends on October 26 and is valid for travel up to the end of November 2011.
© Oman Daily Observer 2011
