Gulf Air gears up to host global airlines customer relations conference

WACRA is an international body of airline customer relations professionals from the worldwide airline industry and the annual conference of the body is hosted by one of its member airlines in their respective countries.

Gulf Air won the pitch last year to host the global conference in Bahrain amid competition from 50 other airlines. The airline, which is the only carrier from the region on the Board of directors of WACRA, hosted the conference in 1998.

"Middle East airlines are now significant players in the global aviation market and being one of the most established carriers in the region, Gulf Air is proud to be able to host the event once again and also proud to have a Bahraini woman on the board of this elite organisation,"

says Gulf Air Acting President and Chief Executive Björn Näf.

"Aviation business is a service industry and the main focus is on our customers and it is important for the global airline industry to come together and share their valuable experience and discuss on how best we can serve the customers," says Mr. Näf.

Representatives from more than 60 global and regional airlines are expected to attend the conference, where industry experts drawn from governments, international and industry associations, legal firms specialising in air transport issues, regulatory agencies, as well as consumer rights and issues, will address conference sessions and conduct workshops.

"Gulf Air is gearing up in full force for the event and is proud to be given the opportunity to host this global conference in Bahrain which is the leading financial centre in the Middle East," says Gulf Air Manager Customer Care and Service Monitoring Kavita Sharma Al Jassim.

Kavita Al Jassim is a member of the board of WACRA representing Gulf Air while seven other senior executives from international airlines representing KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, SAS Airlines, Air Canada Jazz, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Air France and Delta Airlines constitute the board.

Mrs. Al Jassim is heading to Paris on September 5th to attend a WACRA board meeting to set the stage for the October conference in Bahrain.

"As WACRA is a non-political, non-business-competitive forum, the conference, will further strengthen the image of Gulf Air and the regional carriers globally," says Mrs. Al Jassim.

WACRA is a 60-year-old worldwide organisation of air transport professionals dedicated to providing value to respective companies, partnering with each other to share best practices and discuss industry trends, and offering our customers the very best in service recovery. It also co-operates with the Air Transport Association (ATA) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA).