aviation - the past, present and future of flight

in 1950 with the purpose of establishing

scheduled  ights between some of the

Arab States of the Persian Gulf, alongside

charter and air taxi work, aircraft handling

and  ight training.

The new company’s  rst scheduled

 ight was to Doha and took off on July 5,

1950, with Dhahran rotations beginning

on September 28. Bosworth intended to

rejuvenate his  eet by adding de Havilland

Doves.

However, he was killed at Croydon

on June 9, 1951 during a demonstration

 ight while preparing to introduce the DH

Dove to the company. Following his death,

BOAC took a 22% shareholding through its

subsidiary, BOAC Associated Services.

Two de Havilland DH.114 Heron aircraft

joined the  eet in 1956, remaining until

retirement 11 years later. A Douglas Dakota

was added in 1961 which stayed for ten

years.

In 1967, the airline began the

introduction of Fokker F 27s. The only

new one, A40-FA, arrived in 1976, the next

was second-hand from KLM in 1968 and

the third, in 1971 came from Balair. These

pressurised and air-conditioned aircraft

were much appreciated in the heat of the

Middle East by Gulf Air passengers.

http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 57

In 1999, Gulf Air received the  rst two of six Airbus A330-200s. AirTeamImages.com/Steve Flint

A Douglas Dakota was added to the then Gulf Aviation Company  eet in 1961. The real G-AMZZ

was broken up for spare parts, this is a former RAF example. The aircraft is on display at the Al

Mahatta Aviation Museum in Sharjah. Also on display are an example of an Anson, Heron and

Dove to show other types used in the past. Wikimedia Commons/Aeroprints

56-61_gulf_airDC.mfDC.mfDC.mf.indd 57 02/03/2018 17:32