Gulf Air (GF, Bahrain) is considering joining an airline alliance as part of its future goals. In his speech announcing a 52% reduction in the airline's annual losses and a financial performance that surpassed its restructuring target by BHD14.5million (USD40.8million), the Chairman of Gulf Air’s Board of Directors, Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, said his airline's strategy of building a strong regional network was aimed at attracting one of the world's three global alliances.
“A number of new destinations are being studied across the Middle East and North Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia. Furthermore the airline is also considering a number of potential codeshare opportunities and is open to joining an alliance that will provide additional global connectivity to the Kingdom of Bahrain,” he said.
In the early 2000s, the Bahraini carrier held several rounds of discussions with Star Alliance and Oneworld though nothing concrete ever came of them.
In recent years, government unwillingness to continue propping up the carrier and growing competition from local rivals Emirates (EK, Dubai Int'l), Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi Int'l) and Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Int'l), led the airline to shrink its fleet and network in an attempt to reduce persistent heavy losses. Using an all Airbus Industrie (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) fleet of sixteen A320-200s, six A321-200s and six A330-200s, Gulf Air now focuses primarily on serving short-haul routes within three hours of its Bahrain hub.
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