October 19, 2010
Bahrain plans to inject additional capital of
BHD400 million dinars (USD$1.1 billion)
into its loss-making national carrier Gulf
Air, a local newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Al Wasat newspaper said Bahrain's king
had issued a decree to expand the state's
2010 budget and had authorized the
finance ministry to raise the funds from
local and international capital markets.
The airline, which flew close to 6 million
passengers last year, plans to break even in
two to three years after a loss of USD$502
million in 2009.
Gulf Air has struggled to find a niche after
previous owners Oman, Abu Dhabi and
Qatar gave up their stakes partly to
establish their own carriers.
It now focuses on regional routes in the
Middle East to compete with airlines such
as Qatar Airways and Emirates that serve
global traffic linking Asia and Europe.
Bahrain plans to spend BHD2.19 billion in
its 2010 budget draft.
(Reuters)
Home 