Gulf Air begins chartered freighter services

An A300 aircraft with a 40 tonne capacity has been chartered from ACT Airlines, that will operate on a twice weekly basis between Bahrain, Chennai, Bangalore and Amsterdam.

'It is an important milestone for Gulf Air,' says Gulf Air Vice President Business Units Ali Murtada. 'Traditionally the last quarter of every year is the industry's peak period and Gulf Air has been evaluating how best to provide a solution for our loyal customers during this period.

'With the exclusive freighter service, Gulf Air will be able to provide a faster transit time to meet the demand originating from the Asian Sub-Continent and Far East markets to Europe while maintaining the integrity of our service standards.'

The Middle East has become an important transit gateway for air cargo traffic linking Europe and the Asia sub-continent and Far East export markets. Gulf Air has the strategic advantage of operating out of two hubs- Bahrain and Muscat- the region's two dynamically growing markets.
Both hubs possess well resourced cargo facilities enabling them to comfortably handle freighter operations.

'We are pleased to be able to serve the needs of our customers and no doubt they will react positively to these Gulf Air's freighter charters while our General Sales Agents (GSAs) are equally excited with this development,'

concludes Murtada.

Des Vertannes Head of Cargo who was brought in by Ali Murtada earlier this year to oversee the introduction of freighters acknowledges the role played by the charter company ACT in facilitating these operations. 'From the first moment of our negotiations, ACT has proved to be an innovative, flexible and proactive company to do business with. They have worked tirelessly to ensure we could make this happen for the benefit of our customers' added Vertannes.