Gulf Air, which is owned by the governments of Bahrain and Oman, has announced plans to restructure it network to improve connections to all centres in the Gulf and the Middle East region. As a consequence, Gulf Air will stop operating to Jakarta and fi ve other heavy-loss-making long haul routes effectiveJuly 1.

Gulf Air president and chief executive André Dosé said the airline, which is currently making heavy operational losses, had looked at ways in which the fl eet and resources can be used in the most effective way to ensure that customersare served effectively.

“The decision has been made to close six routes effective July 1. These are Jakarta, Johannesburg, Dublin, Singapore, Sydney and Hong Kong,” said Dosé. “To improve our profi tability, Gulf Air will reduce its fl eet from 34 to 28 aircraft and one single manufacturer (Airbus),” he added.

Dosé stressed that this was the fi rst of several tough new measures recently endorsed by the board of directors, which will also include cost cutting across the entire company, streamlining the structure of the organisation and making network operations more efficient.

Meanwhile, three vice-presidents have left the company, including vicepresident for fi nance Ahmad Al Hammadi, vice-president for services Tariq Sultan, and vice-president for business units Ali Murtada.