passenger demand. The second Gulf War in
2003 had similar effects.
Oman Air was founded in 1993 and
Qatar Airways operated its rst ight on
January 20, 1994. Gulf Air now had three
competitors.
In May 1994, Gulf Air received its rst
Airbus A340-300 and by the end of the year
it had four examples in its eet, with three
more following between 1995 and 1997. The
type would remain in service until 2012. In
1999, when the airline received the rst
two of six Airbus A330-200s, it opened new
routes to Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar.
The remaining four A330s were delivered
in 2000, when Gulf Air celebrated its 50th
anniversary.RESTRUCTURING
In May 2002, James Hogan became
President and CEO of Gulf Air. The airline
had experienced serious nancial problems
in the past, and the new skipper decided
to launch a restructuring and turnaround
programme in response to a drastic fall in
pro ts and increasing debts.
The company’s board unanimously
approved the three-year plan at an
extraordinary general meeting held that year
on December 18.
The Qatar Government withdrew its
involvement with the airline because it now
had its own national ag carrier, Qatar
Airways (founded in 1993) and didn’t want
to spend money in a debt restructuring
programme that would improve the nancial
standing of Gulf Air.
As part of Hogan’s rebranding
programme, the airline introduced a new
Landor-Associates-designed livery in 2003,
when daily ights to Athens were started,
and set up the Gulf Traveller subsidiary
as an all-economy, full-service airline. Its
inaugural ight between Abu Dhabi and
Jeddah took place on June 15 that year. It’s
main base was in Abu Dhabi but it relocated
to Bahrain and Muscat airports after Abu
Dhabi pulled out of the Gulf Air consortium.
In May 2007, when Oman also withdrew,
leaving Bahrain as sole owner of the airline,
these changes led to Gulf Traveller being
shut down that year. However, the name
was revived in 2016 for a marketing strategywhere the more tickets a passenger books,
the more they save.
The airline also announced a sponsorship
deal for the Bahrain F1 motor racing Grand
Prix through to 2010.
By the end of 2004, it had become
clear that Hogan’s restructuring had paid
off. The airline had carried a record 7.5
million passengers and its accounts were
back in the black with the best nancial
performance since 1997. Despite rising fuel
costs, it posted a pro t of $4m for 2004 on
revenues that were up 23.8%. The result
meant the airline out-performed the targets
set under Project Falcon, the three-year
restructuring plan.
The carrier also introduced direct
ights between Dubai and London, and
between Muscat and London, as well as
a daily service from Abu Dhabi to Ras
Al Khaimah. The owner states of Gulf
Air (Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, and Oman)
con rmed their support for further
expansion through a new three-year
strategic plan that included re-equippingthe eet and recapitalising the company
through private-sector nancing.
New challenges appeared. On
September 3, 2005, the Emirate of Abu
Dhabi decided to fully withdraw from Gulf
Air and to establish its own airline: Etihad
Airways. Gulf Air had to change operations
to become just a dual-hub between Bahrain
and Muscat.
As the national carrier for the Gulf States
for more than 35 years, Gulf Air had a large
customer base in Abu Dhabi which it tried
to support by offering ights between Abu
Dhabi and Bahrain and Muscat, connecting
to the rest of the Gulf Air network.
One year after the withdrawal of Abu
Dhabi, James Hogan resigned as President
and CEO to become CEO at rival airline
Etihad.
Ahmed Al Hammadi took over the role
on October 1, 2006, to be replaced on April
1, 2007 by André Dosé, former CEO of
Crossair and Swiss International Airlines.
A few days later, Dosé announced
a $825m restructuring plan. Thishttp://www.aviation-news.co.uk 59From 1974 until 1978, Gulf Air used four Vickers VC10s. AirTeamImages.com/Carl FordGulf Air received its rst Lockheed L-1011 Tristar in 1976. AirTeamImages.com/Ralf MeyermannGulf Air leased ve Boeing 737-200s in 1977, which served until 1995. Wikimedia Commons/AeroIcarus56-61_gulf_airDC.mfDC.mfDC.mf.indd 59 02/03/2018 17:32