Gulf Air used to be the Gulf’s most global airline, but due to a variety of factors (including Bahrain no longer being the Middle East’s global hub, and also probably having to do with the fact that James Hogan was CEO of the airline for four years before moving on to Etihad), Gulf Air is…
Continue reading: American Airlines & Gulf Air Partnership Ending April 30, 2018
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Lucky,
JAL updated the passenger reservation system today and after that there is a big issue for partners to look up the award space on JAL.
AA (via phone), BA, QF all can't find award space even if there's a space shown on JAL's website. However AS can show the space and book it.
Could you look into this issue?
1. Eastern most flight from GF is to Manila, not Bangkok.
2. Gulf Air (primarily under Hogan) chose to cancel flight to Bangalore which was generally full and decided to fly empty planes to Copenhagen, Dublin, Melbourne, Geneva.. Etc. etc.. The list is endless. The fact that they only recently started a flight to Dhaka is mind boggling when they make up such a large part of the population and are forced to fly other carriers.
3. This is an airline primarily run for its employees and not its passengers. Typical to most state run carriers.
"due to a variety of factors (including Bahrain no longer being the Middle East’s global hub, and also probably having to do with the fact that James Hogan was CEO of the airline for four years before moving on to Etihad), Gulf Air is just a small shell of what it used to be."
The biggest factor probably being Abu Dhabi, Qatar, and Oman all pulling out of the airline and deciding to focus on their own local airlines instead probably hurt Gulf Air the most, leaving only Bahrain as the sole owner. Losing Abu Dhabi as a hub also hurt Gulf Air quite a bit.
This is disappointing to hear as I have banked AA miles specifically to redeem on Gulf and Etihad. Gulf had a convenient schedule and direct flights to many destinations in Europe and Asia. Sorry to see this go. I'm curious if UA will come in and be a partner as I think having a relationship with a USA partner airline program is needed for this airline to maintain relevance internationally.
Gulf Air will recieve their 787-900 in 2018 and will start flying direct to the US thats why they will stop the AA codeshare.
Yes as a former employee of Gulf Air the sole factor for the airline going into decline was UAE, Qatar and Oman pulling out of this once gulf powerhouse airline. From then on its future was limited to a regional role with Bahrain being the weakest of the four owner states. A sad day indeed!