Historic Developments

Mar 24, 1950: Gulf Aviation Company registered as private shareholding company.

1951-1970: BOAC (British Overseas Aircraft Corporation) became the major shareholder in Gulf Aviation.

1967: Introduction of in-flight service.

1970: London services began in April, using the VC10.

1973: Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Oman, and Qatar governments purchase BOAC’s shares.

1974: The Foundation Treaty signed on January 1. Gulf Aviation Company becomes Gulf Air, the national carrier of the four states.

1976: L-1011 Tri-Stars and B737s join the fleet. Staff strength moves up to 4,000. Amman, Amsterdam, Athens, Baghdad, Bangkok, Beirut, Cairo, Colombo, Delhi, Dhaka, Hong Kong, Jeddah, Khartoum, Larnaca, Manila, Paris, Ras Al Khaimah, Sanaa added to the network.

1981: Gulf Air becomes IATA member.

1982: Gulf Air become first international airline permitted to land at Riyadh.

1985: Staff strength rises to 4,500, comprising 41 nationalities speaking 23 languages.

1987: The Gulf aircraft Maintenance Company (Gamco) opens in Abu Dhabi.

1988: Boeing B767 joins the fleet in 1988. Services to Frankfurt, Istanbul, Damascus, Dar Es-Salaam, Fujairah and Nairobi launched and services to Shiraz and Baghdad resumed.

1990: Gulf Air’s 40th anniversary. The light blue and peach Balenciaga-designed uniform was introduced. Singapore, Sydney and Trivandrum launched and Gulf Air becomes first Arab airline to fly to Australia. Beirut service resumed.

1992: Gulf Air becomes first Arab airline to fly directly to Johannesburg and Melbourne.

1993: Gulf Air’s Flight Simulators Centre opened in Qatar (February). Launched services to Casablanca, Entebbe, Jakarta, Kilimanjaro, Madras, Rome, Sanaa, Zanzibar and Zurich.

1994: The state-of-the-art Airbus A340-300 joined the fleet in May. Gulf Air signs Code-Share agreement with American Airlines on flights between London and New York.

1996: Gulf Air signed Code-Share agreement with Cyprus Airways between Bahrain and Larnaca.

1997: Gulf Air opened its official Internet homepage at http:/www.gulfairco.com. The airline won the Gulf Africa Merit of Distinction Duty free award for the third time. Gulf Air Code-Share agreement with British Midland between London and Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Amsterdam, Teeside, Leeds/Bradford, Belfast.

1998: Flights to Nepal launched; Gulf Air expanded Code-Share agreement with American Airlines. GF has its code on AA operated flights between London and New York, Chicago and Miami. No-smoking on flights to Singapore and Australia. The airline won the Gulf Africa Merit of Distinction Duty Free award for the fourth time.

1999: Gulf Air launched three new routes in North Pakistan: Islamabad, Lahore, and Peshawar.
Code-Share agreement with Air Tanzania on flights between Dar Es Salaam, Zanzibar, Muscat and Dubai. Gulf Air took delivery of two (out of six) A330-200 aircraft. Balance in service by June 2000. A new Balmain designed uniform based in navy blue introduced.

2000: Gulf Air’s 50th Anniversary. Services to Milan launched.

2001: Gulf Air announces code-sharing arrangement with Oman Air. American Airlines, Royal Air Maroc, Air Malta, British Midland, Cyprus Airways and Philippine Airlines are also participants.

May 2002: Gulf Air appoints James Hogan as new President & Chief Executive.

May-Dec 02: Implementation of three year turnaround programme begins with new local and international management to provide specialist skills to service, sales, marketing and operations departments. Executive Management Entry Programme and apprenticeship schemes also launched.

Additional partners and innovative enhanements to the FALCON Frequent Flyer Programme announced.

Increased focus on intra-Gulf services and increased flights to/from points in Europe.

Gulf Air becomes first Middle East airline to introduce In flight Chefs to serve first class passengers as well as new menus in First, Business and Economy cabins. Gulf Air Holidays Arabian Experience programme launched.

Gulf Air announces it will become the first Middle East airline to introduce self-service check-in kiosks and SMS notification technology to provide flight information to passengers mobile phones / e-mail and becomes first Gulf airline to provide downloadable version of entire schedule for the public to load on to home or hand held PCs. Flight reconfirmation policy discontinued.

AIMS (Airline Information Management System) Crew Management System implemented to plan and allocate rosters for flying crew for all Gulf Air flights.

Gulf Air becomes only airline in region to receive the Airbus Operational Excellence Award for 2000 / 2001 and Gulf Air and CFM International commemorate 10th anniversary of introduction of CFM56 engines into fleet and is awarded for becoming the CFM56-5C fleet leader in terms of engine cycles.

Gulf Air records a year on year improvement in passenger uplift in all three classes and positive growth in cargo business.

Dec 18, 2002: Gulf Air Board of Directors unanimously approves three year recovery plan.