Middle East carrier Gulf Air is to inaugurate flights from the kingdom of Bahrain to Copenhagen and Nairobi this summer, bringing its new route count for the current year to eight. These links include Geneva, Switzerland; Milan, Italy; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Kabul, Afghanistan, the latter due for launch on June 15.
The carrier will offer four times weekly flights to each destination and has scheduled both services for good connections through Bahrain to offer links through the region and also to Asia and the Indian Sub-continent.
The Copenhagen route will commence on July 1 and will be operated by a Boeing 737 aircraft in a two-class configuration of sixteen Falcon Gold seats and seventy-eight seats in Economy. Alongside point-to-point traffic this will see it fighting for connecting passengers with Qatar Airways, which already offers a daily service to Copenhagen from Doha and Emirates Airline which is to launch a daily link from August 1.
"Scandinavians are keen travellers to the Asian and the Indian sub-continent regions and Copenhagen is an aviation hub for the Scandinavian and Baltic regions. The city also enjoys good surface connections with southern Sweden,” said Samer Majali, Chief Executive Officer, Gulf Air. “In addition, Copenhagen is home to many international corporations and organisations, and we see a strong potential for business traffic to and from the region. By connecting Copenhagen with Bahrain we are opening up new doors of opportunity for trade and tourism for both countries," he added.
The Nairobi route will open on July 5 and will be flown by an Airbus A320 in a two-class configuration of 16 seats in Falcon Gold and 120 in Economy, but also with a four tone cargo capacity, that Gulf Air believes will help support the economics of the route. This flight remains subject to final clearance from relevant authorities. Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, is the financial and tourism capital of the East Africa region, but just outside of the city boundaries is the Nairobi National Park, comprising miles of vast plains, cliffs and forests that is home to many of the world's rarest animals.
"By re-connecting Nairobi with Bahrain we are re-opening the huge commercial and tourism opportunity for entrepreneurs and businessmen from both markets. We are confident this new route will be a success for both our passenger and cargo operations, and we look forward to facilitating business and leisure traffic between the two countries and beyond," added Samer Majali.