Gulf Air - Once the Pride of Arabia

Gulf Air was founded when in 1950 an existing air taxi company was renamed Gulf Aviation. The young airline started with several piston-engine planes like Avro Ansons and De Havilland Doves. In 1951 British Overseas Aviation became a major shareholder in the company, taking 22 %. In 1973 the governments of the Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Abu Dhabi took over the airline, with each government holding 25 % and renamed it Gulf Air. At that time long haul flights from the Gulf were already established using Vickers VC-10s. In the seventies Boeing 737s and BAC One-elevens joined the airline and of course the famous Lockheed L-1011 Tristar, which soon formed the backbone of the long haul fleet. Up to 19 units of the Tristar where in use by the carrier. At that time Gulf Air was very famous for its luxury service throughout all classes. From 1988 the fleet expanded with the delivery of 20 Boeing 767-300s, but soon the Gulf War rapidly stopped the expansion plans and many aircraft where soon leased out to other airlines or outright sold after delivery. At that time 14 narrowbody Airbus A320 where delivered to the Middle Eastern Carrier and 6 Airbus 340-300s were taken, but most of them were immediately leased out after delivery. At the time of the 50th anniversary in the year 2000 6 Airbus A330-200 were taken for service to Europe and Asia. In the year 2002 the emirate Qatar withdraw from Gulf Air in order to pursue Qatar Airways, which is now one of the few 5 star airlines. Similiarly Abu Dhabi quit in 2005 and finally Oman in 2007 leaving Gulf Air solely in the hands of The Kingdom of Bahrain. In 2003 the carrier was completely rebranded and received its now beloved golden-white livery. Currently 41 destinations in Europe, Africa and Asia are served from the Kingdom.

Currently the fleet consists of the following aircraft:
9 Airbus A340-300s
10 Airbus A330-200s
10 Airbus A320s
2 Airbus A321s
2 Airbus A319s
4 Boeing 777-300s (leased from Jet Airways India, to be returned by September 2009)

A massive fleet replacement programme was started and 59 aircraft are currently on order:
20 Airbus A330-300s
24 Boeing 787 Dreamliners
15 Airbus A320s

Saudi Arabian Airlines - The Legacy Carrier

Saudi Arabian Airlines was founded in 1946 as a state run company and started operating DC-3s in the region. After the DC-3s came the Bristol 170, the DC-4 and then the Convair 340. With the Boeing 720, a shortened and simplified derivative of the famous Boeing 707, the company entered the jet age in 1962. Soon 707s and 727s were added. The fleet was further diversified when in the 1970s the queen of the skies, the Boeing 747 and the famous Lokheed L-1011 Tristar were introduced. Meanwhile the airline was flying to destinations all over the Middle East, Europe, America and Asia. In the decade that followed the Airbus A 300 was introduced in huge numbers (in total Saudi Arabian Airlines operated approximately 90 A300s at all times) and the Fokker 28 complemented the short haul Boeing 737s which were operated since the 70s. In the 1990s the Boeing 777-200 replaced many older widebodies and the airline became the biggest operator of the MD-90 when it bought 30 units of this updated and fully modernised DC-9 / MD 80. The MD-11 complemented the long-haul fleet and as the first legacy carrier of the Middle East it ordered 15 Embraer 170 regional jets. Since 2006 SV is no longer the biggest carrier in the region, being surpassed by Emirates. Currently a fleet roll-over programm is in the works and the carrier ordered 8 Airbus A330, 12 Boeing 787 and 45 Airbus A320 (mainly as a replacement for the not so old MD-90s). Currently more than 70 destinations worldwide are served. In addition to regular scheduled flights Saudi Arabian Airlines is offering charter flights with special emphasis on Hajj pilgrim travellers. The carrier has its base in Jeddah with Riyadh and Dammam being focus cities.

The fleet as of July 2009 consists of the following aircraft:

23 Boeing 747 (of which 4 frames are freighters)
4 MD-11 freighters
2 Airbus A330-200 (leased from Atlasjet)
23 Boeing 777-200
6 Airbus A300-600 (leased in from Onur Air)
4 Boeing 757 (leased from Atlasjet)
2 Airbus A321 (1 leased from Onur Air, 1 leased from Atlasjet)
28 McDonnell-Douglas MD-90
15 Embraer E-170

The Airbus A330 - The Workhorse of the Region

Before we start going into detail and before showing you the airlines of the Middle East, I want to give you a short overview on the fleet numbers of the real workhorse of the region: The Airbus A330. At first it was only a two engine version of the Airbus A340 and it was expected that the four engined A340 would be the big seller but it turned out different. Roughly 60 % of all planes of the 330/340 family so far are A330s. And there are only a few A340s still to be built (approximately 20 aircraft) but several hundred A330s are still on order by the airlines worldwide. The aircraft is currently offered in two passenger versions (there is also a military tanker variant and a soon to be built freighter model), the Airbus A330-300 (length circa 63.5 m) and the shortened longer range version Airbus A330-200 (length circa 59m). Right from the start this aircraft was very popular with the airlines of the Middle East, due to its unrivalled economics and also because it is quite common to fly big aircraft around in the region. It seems to be a prestige thing to generally have bigger aircraft even for short hops than elsewhere.

As of July 2009 these are the numbers for this beautiful plane in the Mideast:

Emirates Airlines - 29 A330-200s plus a so far unconfirmed LOI for 30 new A330-300s

Etihad Airways - 16 A330-200s plus orders for 2 A330-200s, 3 A330-300s and 3 A330-200 Freighters

Gulf Air - 10 A330-200s plus orders for 20 A330-300s

Qatar Airways - 16 A330-200s and 13 A330s-300s

Saudi Arabian Airlines - 2 A330-200s (leased from Turkish Atlasjet) plus orders for 8 A330-300s

Oman Air - 2 A330-200s (leased from Indian Jet Airways) plus orders for 10 A330-200s and 4 A330-300s

MEA Middle East Airlines - 4 A330-200s

Aviation in the Middle East

Hello Dear Readers,

with my new blog I want to show aviation enthusiasts, aircraft fans and novices the wonderful world of aviation in the Middle East, currently the only growth region in air traffic. In the coming weeks I will supply insight into the regions´s biggest and most famous airlines and also show you the smaller and lesser known companies.