Gulf Air Nepal operations wins award from government

In a ceremony held recently in Kathmandu, officials from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Nepal presented a plaque to Gulf Air Nepal General Manager Mr. Mohammed Abdulrehman Zainal recognizing the airline's achievement of carrying the highest number of passengers between January and October last year.

Gulf Air flew over a quarter of a million passengers last year between Bahrain/Dammam/Riyadh and Kathmandu.

"Kathmandu attracts a good number of tourists every year for its salubrious climate and heritage and Gulf Air serves as an excellent connecting carrier bringing thousands of tourists from Europe and the US via its three European hubs- London, Paris and Frankfurt, in addition to Arab and expatriate tourists from the GCC region,"

says Mr. Zainal. Of course, Gulf Air is also a favorite carrier among the thousands of Nepalis working in the GCC region, who regularly travel back and forth to their native home.

"It is an honour to receive the award as it shows that Gulf Air continues to serve the country well for both locals and tourists alike between Bahrain/Dammam and Kathmandu," said Mr. Zainal.

"In 2008 we operated 11 flights per week with our wide bodied A340 aircraft to match the increasing demand from passengers. This included four code share flights with Saudi Arabian Airlines, who are our closest partner in the Gulf, with two direct flights per week between Dammam and Kathmandu and another two flights between Riyadh and Kathmandu via Bahrain."

"Responding to the increasing passenger demand, we operate double daily flights for the summer to and from Kathmandu, including the four codeshare services for Saudi Arabian Airlines. With this increase we remain the largest operator, with convenient connectivity to Europe, the GCC and Middle East," Mr Zainal concluded.

Gulf Air commenced services to Kathmandu in July 1998. In November 2007, Bahrain became the single hub for the airline, which allowed much greater connectivity for customers and improved capacity for Nepal adding to Gulf Air's popularity among customers.