Gulf Air launches services to three new destinations- Rome, Entebbe and Juba
Bahrain’s national carrier Gulf Air, today announced the launch of services to three more new destinations - Rome, the Italian capital, Entebbe, the hub of Uganda’s commercial sector and Juba, the capital of newly independent country, South Sudan.
Services to Rome will begin from 30 November – with four flights per week, Entebbe on 05 December, four weekly flights and to Juba from 07 February 2012 with three flights per week.
Gulf Air Chief Executive Officer Samer Majali said, “The launch of services to these new destinations demonstrates once again Gulf Air’s long-term strategy to connect Bahrain and the region with new and unexplored markets having sound business potential. It is one more example of our pioneering tradition, establishing our leadership position to gain commercial advantage in new markets.”
He added, “The commencement of our services to Entebbe and Juba firmly establishes our renewed focus in the emerging markets of the African continent, where we see a huge potential. It also opens up new business opportunities between Bahrain and these fast-developing countries.”
“Just like the other recently launched routes that have been well-embraced by our customers, I am confident these three routes will also receive our customers’ support.” Mr. Majali concluded.
Gulf Air Chief Commercial Officer Mr. Karim Makhlouf added, “By resuming services to Rome, we are expanding our Italian operations after Milan, which we launched in March this year that has proved to be very successful. Now with the addition of Rome, we are connecting the Northern and South Central parts of Italy to the Middle East.”
“As the Middle East’s largest network carrier, we are well positioned to connect these three countries to the vast MENA, Far East and Indian subcontinent markets. With nearly 700 flights per week within the region, our customers will be able to find a flight to their destination in the shortest possible connecting time via our efficient hub Bahrain” Mr. Makhlouf said.
Rome:
Gulf Air will be operating four flights per week to Rome using an A320.
Rome has always been a popular destination among tourists for its history and heritage besides as a shopping destination, not to mention the thousands of religious travellers visiting the Vatican City. The economy of Rome is characterized by commercial activities especially tourism-related, banking and fashion. The direct Rome flights provide the best two-way connectivity to destinations in the Indian sub-continent and the Far East via its efficient Bahrain hub.
The inaugural promo fares from Bahrain to Rome starts at BD 100.
Entebbe
Gulf Air will operate four flights per week to Entebbe with an A320.
Entebbe is the largest city in Uganda and the commercial focal point of the country to where Gulf Air used to fly until 2001. Uganda has emerged from difficult times to become a role model for other developing African nations. Its economy has grown from strength to strength especially after the discovery of crude oil and natural gas in 2002. With the Entebbe service, Gulf Air will be connecting greater Uganda markets to the Middle East via Bahrain with its vast MENA network.
Gulf Air offers inaugural promo fares from Bahrain to Entebbe starting at BD 112.
Juba
Juba will be served three times a week with an E90 aircraft in a two class configuration.
Juba is Gulf Air’s latest and fourth destination in the African continent after Khartoum, Addis Ababa and Nairobi. As the capital of the newly independent South Sudan, Juba is attracting lots of international focus and support with its huge untapped potential. With 75% of former Sudan’s oil reserves now coming under South Sudan, the country is all set for major investment in social and infrastructure development – from road network, housing, banking, education to manufacturing. In addition to oil, the country also has vast deposits of copper, iron and zinc which will help generate foreign exchange revenue in the long run.
Inaugural fares to Juba starts at BD 168 from Bahrain.