Bahrain based Gulf Air has announced that it will add two new non-stop European services effective from March 28th 2011. It will begin a thrice-weekly service to Geneva and a four-times weekly service to Milan Malpensa, both to be operated with narrowbody aircraft, with 16 Business class seats and 78 economy class seats on lease from Privatair.
These two new routes will complement Gulf Air’s existing European services, which consist of a double daily service to London Heathrow, a daily to Frankfurt and Charles de Gaulle which are operated with widebody A330-200 aircraft and a six-times weekly service to Athens, operated with E-190 equipment.
Gulf Air has not expanded in Europe in recent times and discontinued its thrice-weekly service to Dublin in 2007. Its new services to Milan and Geneva will provide a mix of business and leisure and the narrowbody equipment will allow it to access thinner European markets.
IATA BSP data from October 2009 till October 2010 demonstrate that point to point demand is relatively low. Bahrain to Milan Malpensa saw just over 8,000 O+D passengers flying the route, whilst to Geneva just over 11,000 O+D passengers flew the route.
Gulf Air will be looking to penetrate the wider Middle East market to both of these European destinations. Over 555,000 O+D passengers flew from the Middle East to Milan Malpensa. Emirates serves Milan double daily with widebodied aircraft, Qatar serve it daily and Etihad serves Milan five-times weekly, both also with a widebody mix. Over 425,000 of these O+D passengers flew on non-stop services.
The Middle East to Geneva market during the same time period saw over 320,000 O+D passengers fly, with competition for Gulf Air coming from Etihad and Qatar, which both provide five-times weekly service from their respective Abu Dhabi and Doha hubs. Just over 188,000 of these passengers flew on non-stop services, highlighting the potential for increased non-stop services. Potential for the route is highlighted by the fact that over 80,000 of the total O+D number from the Middle East to Geneva flew in business class, a total of 25%, well above the industry average of 10% for a route.
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