Gulf Air Developments
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just heard something.. the 330 orders wont be canceled/reduced any time soon. they are trying to let 2 different project run at the same time.. basically its parallel working. in which the airline will compare the profit margins made by the narrow body jets(the emb) and the wide body jets (the 330s). based on the results, the airline would decide if he final plan should be given a go ahead or not.
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Goodbye Mumtalakat, Hello Government!
Source: iii
MANAMA, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat said on Thursday it would transfer its interests in the country's national carrier Gulf Air back to the Bahraini government. "Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, the investment company for the Kingdom of Bahrain, announced today its intention to divest its interests in Gulf Air, Bahrain's national carrier, to the Bahraini government," the fund said in a statement.
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its intention to divest its interests in Gulf Air, Bahrain's national carrier, to the Bahraini government
Interesting.
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Yikes! 
Seems to indicate that Mumtalakat looks at it as a basket case and not something they can work with.
Seems like Gulf Air is afflicted with the text-book signs of "Distressed State Airline Syndrome"
I don't have a good feeling about this.
Seems to indicate that Mumtalakat looks at it as a basket case and not something they can work with. Seems like Gulf Air is afflicted with the text-book signs of "Distressed State Airline Syndrome"
I don't have a good feeling about this.
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UPDATE:
First class inventory has been completely removed from the GDS on all Bahrain-LON/CDG/JED/RUH/FRA/BKK bound flights.
What will happen for the time being is that those pax purchasing full J class fares will get to sit in the F class seats where as C and D class fare paying pax will get the normal business class seats.
First class inventory has been completely removed from the GDS on all Bahrain-LON/CDG/JED/RUH/FRA/BKK bound flights.
What will happen for the time being is that those pax purchasing full J class fares will get to sit in the F class seats where as C and D class fare paying pax will get the normal business class seats.
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Yikes! Seems to indicate that Mumtalakat looks at it as a basket case and not something they can work with.
Seems like Gulf Air is afflicted with the text-book signs of "Distressed State Airline Syndrome"
I don't have a good feeling about this.
Seems like Gulf Air is afflicted with the text-book signs of "Distressed State Airline Syndrome"
I don't have a good feeling about this.
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No first class.. an idiotic move.GF has been demoted to the Bahrain air standard.. now you can say that there is almost no difference between GF and Bahrain air.
a year ago GF used to be known as an ailing airline which was competing with etihad,emirates and qatar airways... now the media reports that the airline is competing with bahrain air,jazeera airways and air arabia. whats next? the Arabian taxi?
a year ago GF used to be known as an ailing airline which was competing with etihad,emirates and qatar airways... now the media reports that the airline is competing with bahrain air,jazeera airways and air arabia. whats next? the Arabian taxi?
Last edited by Skybeds; 5th Feb 2010 at 08:17.
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An article yesterday by Reuters gives a bit more of an insight:
As I mentioned, "Distressed State Airline Syndrome"-- it says it all. At this point the airline has been sufficiently parted-out, with assets such as the training department (the new GAA) having been spun-off as a separate company.
A successful privatization of the airline would require a major overhaul by the Government in order to make it attractive and, more importantly, sustainable. I am talking about things like a complete cultural adjustment all the way from the top government levels right down to the lowest grade employee, accounting transparency, a significant cut in staff numbers, a write-off of debts and a capital infusion. It will be expensive and painful. However, lacking that, I give Gulf Air no more than 2 years survival time as a private company.
At this point MAHABATEN, I wonder whether a more definite resolution for Gulf Air may be in the cards. Of course, I hope to be wrong.
UPDATE 1-Bahrain SWF moves Gulf Air ownership to govt
* SWF moves Gulf Air ownership back to govt
* CEO says investment was not attractive enough
* Says carrier could still be privatized
MANAMA, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat said on Thursday it would transfer ownership of the country's loss-making national carrier Gulf Air [GULF.UL] to the Bahraini government.
"Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, the investment company for the Kingdom of Bahrain, announced today its intention to divest its interests in Gulf Air, Bahrain's national carrier, to the Bahraini government," the fund said in a statement.
Talal Al Zain, chief executive of Mumtalakat, told Reuters an investment in the airline industry did not fit with the fund's investment strategy.
"Given it's in the airline industry, it is not a high-return investment but more of a strategic investment," he said.
"You will never have more than single-digit returns in this industry," Talal Al Zain told Reuters over the phone.
He also said Mumtalakat had fulfilled its role in the design of Gulf Air's new strategy that focuses on regional routes.
Gulf Air was established as a regional airline but has struggled to find its niche. Previous shareholders Oman, Abu Dhabi and Qatar gave up their stakes, after which ownership of the carrier was transferred to Mumtalakat in 2007.
It now competes with regional low-cost airlines such as Air Arabia AIRA.DU and Bahrain Air, as well as with the state-owned airlines of its richer Gulf Arab neighbours that have large fleet expansion programmes. Small oil producer Bahrain cannot afford to plough funds into its state-owned companies to the same extent.
"Given the strategic significance of Gulf Air to the Bahraini economy and combined with the business' significant funding requirements, Mumtalakat's board of directors has decided to transfer its interests in Gulf Air to the Bahraini government," Mumtalakat said in the statement.
Gulf Air has said it expected to post an operating loss of $510 million in 2009.
Mumtalakat has said it wants to improve the transparency and efficiency of its portfolio companies, virtually all of which are in Bahrain, in order to eventually divest them and diversify by investing abroad.
Zain said the Bahraini government may still privatise the airline.
"Eventually the government might still decide to do that, everything can be privatised," he said.
* SWF moves Gulf Air ownership back to govt
* CEO says investment was not attractive enough
* Says carrier could still be privatized
MANAMA, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat said on Thursday it would transfer ownership of the country's loss-making national carrier Gulf Air [GULF.UL] to the Bahraini government.
"Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, the investment company for the Kingdom of Bahrain, announced today its intention to divest its interests in Gulf Air, Bahrain's national carrier, to the Bahraini government," the fund said in a statement.
Talal Al Zain, chief executive of Mumtalakat, told Reuters an investment in the airline industry did not fit with the fund's investment strategy.
"Given it's in the airline industry, it is not a high-return investment but more of a strategic investment," he said.
"You will never have more than single-digit returns in this industry," Talal Al Zain told Reuters over the phone.
He also said Mumtalakat had fulfilled its role in the design of Gulf Air's new strategy that focuses on regional routes.
Gulf Air was established as a regional airline but has struggled to find its niche. Previous shareholders Oman, Abu Dhabi and Qatar gave up their stakes, after which ownership of the carrier was transferred to Mumtalakat in 2007.
It now competes with regional low-cost airlines such as Air Arabia AIRA.DU and Bahrain Air, as well as with the state-owned airlines of its richer Gulf Arab neighbours that have large fleet expansion programmes. Small oil producer Bahrain cannot afford to plough funds into its state-owned companies to the same extent.
"Given the strategic significance of Gulf Air to the Bahraini economy and combined with the business' significant funding requirements, Mumtalakat's board of directors has decided to transfer its interests in Gulf Air to the Bahraini government," Mumtalakat said in the statement.
Gulf Air has said it expected to post an operating loss of $510 million in 2009.
Mumtalakat has said it wants to improve the transparency and efficiency of its portfolio companies, virtually all of which are in Bahrain, in order to eventually divest them and diversify by investing abroad.
Zain said the Bahraini government may still privatise the airline.
"Eventually the government might still decide to do that, everything can be privatised," he said.
A successful privatization of the airline would require a major overhaul by the Government in order to make it attractive and, more importantly, sustainable. I am talking about things like a complete cultural adjustment all the way from the top government levels right down to the lowest grade employee, accounting transparency, a significant cut in staff numbers, a write-off of debts and a capital infusion. It will be expensive and painful. However, lacking that, I give Gulf Air no more than 2 years survival time as a private company.
At this point MAHABATEN, I wonder whether a more definite resolution for Gulf Air may be in the cards. Of course, I hope to be wrong.
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So now Mumtalakat have finished raping GF they through it back to the government(they are offically saying that they dont want to be in the aviation business so what about training,engineering & BAS???). Good job Talal & co. So whats next for GF? Who knows & it seems that we are the only ones that give a s***. Things are just going from bad to worse. If you dont already have your cv floating around other carriers then fire up the pc & get typing now.
Good luck
Good luck
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510 million a year
For an airline to loose 510 mil a year is too much, specially for the size of GF, i would say the airline will survive, but not in the model it is today. It is changing and will change much more in the future, for those scared of flying the E-Jets, go take a look at AZUL numbers in Brazil, they use the 190/195, first year company is highly profitable, totally solid operations. The aircraft has the performance of a B738 but the break even is a way lower. If GF is bringing the 170 for a start and the 195, plus a mixed fleet A320/330 to maximize it's profits taking down numbers on break even, it will work. Besides the market in Bahrain has changed, competitors are much stronger than GF and it has to focus in some smaller markets. i am not discussing the administration changes or benefits, nor reducing employees number, just a rational re-structuring based on the market and equipment.
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It is nothing about aircraft type or routes that is the MAIN cause here of the losses. We could run 3 airlines with the management staff we have.
About 150 aircraft would meet our ground/office staff requiements. Then the balance would be restored.
Plug the holes with the illegitimate money going out first...
Then there is an airline to salvage.
Otherwise, we all know haaza laa yAHmal
About 150 aircraft would meet our ground/office staff requiements. Then the balance would be restored.
Plug the holes with the illegitimate money going out first...
Then there is an airline to salvage.
Otherwise, we all know haaza laa yAHmal
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rescue plan
MANAMA: A call went out last night to protect the rights of Gulf Air employees during its restructuring. His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Economic Development Board chairman, stressed the need to collaborate efforts by the government, parliament, the EDB and the airline's board to speed up the provision of support requirements for sustaining the operations of the company.
This came during an extraordinary meeting of the executive committee of the EDB, chaired by HRH the Crown Prince, to discuss the situation at Gulf Air.
The decision maintains the continuity of Gulf Air as one of the most important economic achievements of the kingdom, a symbol of its connectivity and an enhancer of the global image of Bahrain.
The three points of focus outlined by HRH the Crown Prince as the revamp plan are: securing the rights of employees and protecting their families; financial support for the company to enable it to continue and overcome its crisis imposed by the global downturn; and ensuring complete transparency in the next stage.
Gulf Air chief executive officer Samer Al Majali outlined the airline's furture programmes.
The committee then had a detailed discussion initiated by Deputy Prime Minister Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, who backed the importance of efforts to enhance the status of the national carrier.
HRH the Crown Prince directed officials to hold a high-level meeting within the next few days to look into the details of the rescue plan.
This came during an extraordinary meeting of the executive committee of the EDB, chaired by HRH the Crown Prince, to discuss the situation at Gulf Air.
The decision maintains the continuity of Gulf Air as one of the most important economic achievements of the kingdom, a symbol of its connectivity and an enhancer of the global image of Bahrain.
The three points of focus outlined by HRH the Crown Prince as the revamp plan are: securing the rights of employees and protecting their families; financial support for the company to enable it to continue and overcome its crisis imposed by the global downturn; and ensuring complete transparency in the next stage.
Gulf Air chief executive officer Samer Al Majali outlined the airline's furture programmes.
The committee then had a detailed discussion initiated by Deputy Prime Minister Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, who backed the importance of efforts to enhance the status of the national carrier.
HRH the Crown Prince directed officials to hold a high-level meeting within the next few days to look into the details of the rescue plan.
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Update - Investigations to continue
MANAMA: Parliament will continue its investigations into Gulf Air despite the transfer of its ownership from Mumtalakat to the government, the head of its probe committee said yesterday.
The reason behind the transfer is to avoid the committee, Abdul Haleem Murad told our sister paper Akhbar Al Khaleej.
He claimed Mumtalakat had injected a lot of money in Gulf Air on the pretext of achieving profitability by 2010. (Source: GDN)
The reason behind the transfer is to avoid the committee, Abdul Haleem Murad told our sister paper Akhbar Al Khaleej.
He claimed Mumtalakat had injected a lot of money in Gulf Air on the pretext of achieving profitability by 2010. (Source: GDN)
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....and overcome its crisis imposed by the global downturn...
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What's this? We are announcing a new destination on de Nile? Luxorious Luxor?
$510 million put into perspective:
Average loss of $1.4 million per day, every day.
A loss of $106,250 USD per employee, per year.
Here is a harebrained, tongue-in-cheek cost-saving idea for Gulf Air and Bahrain. Shut down the airline, send all the employees home. Continue to send monthly paychecks to not come to work. Let other carriers fill any vacuum by serving the routes based on demand and economics. Gulf Air and Bahrain would lose considerably less money than it is now.
$510 million put into perspective:
Average loss of $1.4 million per day, every day.
A loss of $106,250 USD per employee, per year.
Here is a harebrained, tongue-in-cheek cost-saving idea for Gulf Air and Bahrain. Shut down the airline, send all the employees home. Continue to send monthly paychecks to not come to work. Let other carriers fill any vacuum by serving the routes based on demand and economics. Gulf Air and Bahrain would lose considerably less money than it is now.