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