Gulf Air Chairman thanks King and authorities for their support

Mr Kanoo also praised the airline staff for their exemplary work at the time of the crisis.

"The closure of the airport in Beirut resulted in the immediate suspension of our daily service between Bahrain and the Lebanese capital," he said yesterday after a company executive committee meeting.

"Since the outbreak of hostilities, we have been actively working with various government and aviation authorities, locally and in Lebanon and Syria, to put in place alternate travel options to ensure safe exit of passengers via Damascus.

"This includes the deployment of additional daily flights between Bahrain and Damascus, increasing the size of the aircraft and trebling passenger capacity."

Gulf Air has sent back-up staff to Damascus, including a vice president, to facilitate the timely and safe evacuation of people as soon as possible and, continues to work with local embassy staff.

In addition, Gulf Air is honouring and endorsing tickets of passengers of Oman Air and Middle East Airlines, at no additional cost, to enable them to travel on Gulf Air flights from Damascus.

"I take this opportunity to convey, on behalf of Gulf Air, my heartfelt gratitude to His Majesty the King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, for his unstinted support and wise leadership during such crisis," said Mr Kanoo.

"I would also like to thank the officials of the Ministry of Transportation and Civil Aviation Authority for their support and assistance in facilitating safe alternate travel arrangements at such short notice."

The Gulf Air Crisis Centre was activated at 9am on Thursday, 13 July 2006, following the news of bombings in Beirut including the Rafiq Al Hariri Beirut International Airport.

The crisis committee has been meeting twice daily ever since to monitor, review and ensure the ongoing integrity of operations and the safe passage of staff and passengers.

"The safety and well being of our passengers, staff and crew is always a top priority for Gulf Air, and at this time, we share the concerns of all those who are presently caught up in the conflict," said Gulf Air President and Chief Executive James Hogan.

"We will continue to monitor events around the clock and deploy all available resources to meet this commitment and to assist the Bahrain government in the safe return of Bahraini nationals to the kingdom."