BA1985 From United Kingdom, joined Nov 2006, 25 posts, RR: 0 Posted (6 years 6 months 6 days 17 hours ago) and read 2621 times:
Hi,
Given the explosive growth of new airlines in the Gulf at the moment - Qatar, Emirates, Ethiad etc to what extent do people think that Gulf Air will remain a viable business especially with the departure of James Hogan to Ethiad. Is it likely that it will simply remain as a smaller gulf carrier serving Bahrain and Muscat (with excellent service ref. skybeds) or do people see large scale expansion as a likely prospect to counter the new dominance of Emirates etc.
I know that Middle eastern aviation is often discussed but thought that this topic warranted some further discussion.
YOWza From Canada, joined Jul 2005, 4781 posts, RR: 17 Reply 1, posted (6 years 6 months 6 days 16 hours ago) and read 2569 times:
GF don't really have the deep pockets to go balls out to take on QR,EY,EK. Especially when you consider that AAB over at QR has said in public that profitability is not critical to QR. Ultimately, I think GF will put more impetus on its traveller brand and serve the Subcontinent more heavily and maintain what share it already has on its existing major routes.
ETA Unknown From Comoros, joined Jun 2001, 2010 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (6 years 6 months 2 days 11 hours ago) and read 2157 times:
I think it'll be status quo for a while with the BAH hub and MCT mini-hub, especially as Oman has shown really no interest in expanding Oman Air- perhaps they will be merged into GF.
YOWza From Canada, joined Jul 2005, 4781 posts, RR: 17 Reply 4, posted (6 years 6 months 2 days 9 hours ago) and read 2118 times:
Quoting ETA Unknown (Reply 3): I think it'll be status quo for a while with the BAH hub and MCT mini-hub, especially as Oman has shown really no interest in expanding Oman Air- perhaps they will be merged into GF.
What about a three-way merger - WY, EY and GF. The Omani gov already has interestes in WY and GF. Plus the afformentioned jumping ship of Hogan plus the close relationship between the rulers of Abu Dhabi and BAH it's possible.
EurostarVA From Bahrain, joined May 2002, 1296 posts, RR: 8 Reply 5, posted (6 years 6 months 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 2009 times:
Quoting EmiratesCPH (Reply 2): About the future of GF, I am 100 procent sure that we are going to see the first merger within the Gulf.
I think GF and EY are going to merge in the future. Also the depature of James Hoogan from GF to EY could be a sign of this....
I question your '100%' certainty. The thought of GF and EY merging in the next few decades is absurd considering Abu Dhabi split up from GF only recently!
Abu Dhabi has deep pockets to develop its own mega airline competing with EK over the long run. It's not in its interest to even consider merging with GF at this stage.
I even strongly doubt GF will ever merge with Oman Air. If anything, GF will revert to being the national airline of Bahrain only in the coming 10-20 years, until such a time the regional dynamics necessitate consolidation, which at the moment is ruled out due to huge oil windfalls and global ambitions of the new airlines.
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From United Kingdom, joined Nov 2006, 25 posts, 
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