Other Middle East and Africa Frequent Flyer Programs - Gulf Air Sky Beds

Are the Gulf Air Sky Beds only availiable on 330's still or have they finally reached 340's?

I'm flying London - Bahrain end of Oct and the only night time flight (330) has the the Sky Beds whereas the morning flight (340) was eqquited with old First Class last time I checked?

I'm booked on the night flight but would rather change it

Are the Gulf Air Sky Beds only availiable on 320's still or have they finally reached 340's?

I'm flying London - Bahrain end of Oct and the only night time flight (320) has the the Sky Beds whereas the morning flight (340) was eqquited with old First Class last time I checked?

I'm booked on the night flight but would rather change it

I could start by saying ' a simple search of this forum would have found the answered this'... but I won't

A340's are being modified at the moment but i beleive they are being used on the SYD route first. But due to scheduling I'm sure they'll turn up on the LHR - BAH route frequently too

Only available in 3 of the 4 leased A340's at present. However all 6 A330's(not A320 as u stated) are fitted. My strong advice is go for A330. well worth the effort-no comparison in seats!

CJ:)

I’m booked December LHR – BAH on the morning flight on the A340.

On the Itinerary it’s showing as the A342. I’m I correct in thinking all these aircraft are now equipped with the new first and business products?

I know the A340’s marked A343 that do Asia the routes have not been updated and are not going to be but I was under the impression all the A342 aircraft that serve the London and Sydney routes now have the sky beds.

I’m booked December LHR – BAH on the morning flight on the A340.

On the Itinerary it’s showing as the A342. I’m I correct in thinking all these aircraft are now equipped with the new first and business products?

I know the A340’s marked A343 that do Asia the routes have not been updated and are not going to be but I was under the impression all the A342 aircraft that serve the London and Sydney routes now have the sky beds.

It seems no one yet knows.

It seems no one yet knows.
A342 have the new beds in F and J and J class starts in row 8
J class starts in row 9 on the unrefurbished A340s

A342 have the new beds in F and J and J class starts in row 8
J class starts in row 9 on the unrefurbished A340s

I have a BKK-BAH in F booked in Feb 07. I was told by GF that the seating was 2-2-2. My itinerary on virtuallythere.com shows the aircraft is a A343. I thought all the A340-300s were refurbished with the new beds?

GF only operates the -300 series of their A340's. But it is my understanding that those planes marked as 342 (no, they are NOT A340-200's) in the CRS are those 340-300's with new F (1-2-1 config. on the CRS seat maps) and C seats whereas the -300's marked as 343 are the ones equipped with old F (2-2-2 seating) and C. @:-)

GF only operates the -300 series of their A340's. But it is my understanding that those planes marked as 342 (no, they are NOT A340-200's) in the CRS are those 340-300's with new F (1-2-1 config. on the CRS seat maps) and C seats whereas the -300's marked as 343 are the ones equipped with old F (2-2-2 seating) and C. @:-)

Thanks for your reply.

My original flight (marked as a A343) to MCT was scheduled to use the new seat. My new flight, also marked as a A343, is not. The seat maps on the GF werbsite give 2 options for A340s, either 1-2-1, which seem to be the news seats, or 2-1-2 which must be the old seats. I'm told my aircraft is scheduled to be 2-2-2 config :confused: :confused:

Thanks for your reply.

My original flight (marked as a A343) to MCT was scheduled to use the new seat. My new flight, also marked as a A343, is not. The seat maps on the GF werbsite give 2 options for A340s, either 1-2-1, which seem to be the news seats, or 2-1-2 which must be the old seats. I'm told my aircraft is scheduled to be 2-2-2 config :confused: :confused:

2-1-2 no longer exists. These are the leased A340's (ex SQ) These four aircraft are now retrofitted with new F and J Sky beds. Also Y upgrade. Theses newly retrofitted ac appear as 342 on most res systems.

343 are GF owned and not retrofitted and are 2-2-2 in F and J.
Cheers CJ

2-1-2 no longer exists. These are the leased A340's (ex SQ) These four aircraft are now retrofitted with new F and J Sky beds. Also Y upgrade. Theses newly retrofitted ac appear as 342 on most res systems.

343 are GF owned and not retrofitted and are 2-2-2 in F and J.
Cheers CJ

Thanks for your thorough information regarding the new Sky Beds on the A340's. Does anyone have any decent pictures or photos of the new beds on these aircraft. The photos on the website under the seating section are not very adequate and do not show the seats in all their glory - especially the new business class (A340). Thanks for your help!

Thanks for your thorough information regarding the new Sky Beds on the A340's. Does anyone have any decent pictures or photos of the new beds on these aircraft. The photos on the website under the seating section are not very adequate and do not show the seats in all their glory - especially the new business class (A340). Thanks for your help!

Hope this helps:

https://fotoalbum.web.de/gast/crossair/Gulf_Air_Sky_Beds

Hope this helps:

https://fotoalbum.web.de/gast/crossair/Gulf_Air_Sky_Beds


Thanks for the photos - the new seats look great. I am flying FRA-SYD-FRA this month and will have the new A340's all the way through, as the upgraded planes are also flying the FRA-BAH route daily.

Thanks for the photos - the new seats look great. I am flying FRA-SYD-FRA this month and will have the new A340's all the way through, as the upgraded planes are also flying the FRA-BAH route daily.

I did FRA-BAH-SIN vv. last month. First leg FRA-BAH was old F and C (aircraft reg. A40-LD), the rest new F and C on this babe (http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1108047/M/) throughout.

Ahhh those pics make me want to fly! ;)
Sitting in the office is soooooooooo boring ;)

While the F seats are superb....take note of the seat pitch in J class...it's really beyond most carriers F class cabins and in each of the 2 J sections there are only 12 seats.

I've booked a redemption RTW for next year(gotta get in early for QF seats!!) SYD-LAX-YYZ....JFK-LHR...FRA-BAH-DXB-BEY-SYD on QF/AA(unfortunately), Virgin Atlantic and GF. For all sectors except BEY-SYD I could only get redemption seats in J so I'll look forward to trying out the new J seats then.

Thanks again for the pics.

CJ

I did FRA-BAH-SIN vv. last month. First leg FRA-BAH was old F and C (aircraft reg. A40-LD), the rest new F and C on this babe (http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1108047/M/) throughout.

It was really bad luck that you had the old F and C on the FRA-BAH leg. Officially all flights to and from FRA should be on the upgraded aircraft as from 15 September. But according to the German website: www.vornesitzen.de all flights will be with sky-beds from the 31.10.06.

I have my seat reservations already and have been confirmed by Gulf Air that they are all on the new refurbished planes. Just for info...

I am now back from my trip FRA-SYD-FRA and would like to comment on the new Sky Beds on the A340. The beds were on all flight segments and I had the chance to experience Business Class on one leg and First Class on the rest of the legs.

The first class cabin is great and offers lots of space. The beds are very comfortable and the meals were great as usual. They have a nice size TV screen but the programme is 2nd rate - very limited selection and there is no on demand. I can't believe that they would go to all the trouble and expense of upgrading the cabins and seats and not put in a proper audio-visual system - what a pity. The business class cabin is extremely spacious and offers incredible leg room. The seats are almost completely flat, definitely better than the business class seats SQ, QF, TG and MH (no sliding effect). The difference between F and C is now minimal on Gulf Air sky-bed flights, but the seat is wider and more comfortable for sleeping in F class. All in all they offer great prices to Australia and an excellent product (minus the entertainment system).

Thank you ausffm- with the seats and food it's easier to snooze than to find something good on TV. Some of the extra features, destinations and pricing make GF a very good choice.

If you don't mind, can you update us on the following?
- How full were your cabins?
- Did you get the same crews on your way home?
- How was the Sky Chef service?
- Did you have the chance to use GF's limo service?

Cheers! ^

Thank you ausffm- with the seats and food it's easier to snooze than to find something good on TV. Some of the extra features, destinations and pricing make GF a very good choice.

If you don't mind, can you update us on the following?
- How full were your cabins?
- Did you get the same crews on your way home?
- How was the Sky Chef service?
- Did you have the chance to use GF's limo service?

Cheers! ^


Hi BiziBB,

- The flight between BAH-SYD was full in C & F class, the meal service and quality was excellent. The flight SYD-BAH was almost full in business but there were 3 seats free in F. Unfortunately there was a crying baby in the first row of the C cabin which did disturb me, as I was sitting in the 2 row of First. Why they don't put babies in the 2nd section of the C cabin is beyond me. The flights FRA-BAH & BAH-FRA were almost empty in C class and F Class was quite well booked.

- I had different crews on all the legs
- The Sky Chefs were efficient and friendly
- I used the Limo service in SYD - which was a relatively new Mercedes S-Class. Unfortunately they do not offer the service in Frankfurt.
- The boarding procedures in BAH and SYD are not the best for premium passengers. In Singapore and Frankfurt, there are always 2 areobridges for separate boarding.

I am now back from my trip FRA-SYD-FRA and would like to comment on the new Sky Beds on the A340. The beds were on all flight segments and I had the chance to experience Business Class on one leg and First Class on the rest of the legs.

The first class cabin is great and offers lots of space. The beds are very comfortable and the meals were great as usual. They have a nice size TV screen but the programme is 2nd rate - very limited selection and there is no on demand. I can't believe that they would go to all the trouble and expense of upgrading the cabins and seats and not put in a proper audio-visual system - what a pity. The business class cabin is extremely spacious and offers incredible leg room. The seats are almost completely flat, definitely better than the business class seats SQ, QF, TG and MH (no sliding effect). The difference between F and C is now minimal on Gulf Air sky-bed flights, but the seat is wider and more comfortable for sleeping in F class. All in all they offer great prices to Australia and an excellent product (minus the entertainment system).

I have raised IFE situation with GF Cabin managers.
The fact is the 4 A342 retrofitted are leased aircraft from Boeing(Ex SQ). As such it would costs too much to upgrade the fitted IFE System- besides you cant rip out an electrical IFE system and transfer it generally speaking. The seats on the other hand can be easily removed and resused when the ac are given back to Boeing. With GF looking to upgrade its fleet on demand IFE will be fitted accordingly to new ac. So for time being its what ever system is fitted to the aircraft that is being used. The older and GF owned A340's have a video cassette library for F class pax to chose from as seats are fitted with individual players. That was the 'ants pants' back in the hey day of that technology. Thats really the only draw back on GF and amenity kits. But hey the prices on GF amply compensate! You would easily pay 2-3 thousand more on EK QF etc. in F and J on similar routes.

Happily, the limo, lounge, sky chef, skybeds and sky nanny (when required) make entertainment among the few niggles. Along with the upgraded cabins, GF often has great pricing (even at peak season).

Hopefully there is less chance of screwups at airports (such as transit hotel arrangements (for SYD/SIN arrivals pre-BAH-Europe 1AM flights) ...nicely compensated, as I've noted before ;).

It would be great to get news of a new redemption promotion (or bonus miles) once Louise R's replacement is announced.
Could this all be waiting for the CEO announcement?

Hopefully there is less chance of screwups at airports (such as transit hotel arrangements (for SYD/SIN arrivals pre-BAH-Europe 1AM flights) ...nicely compensated, as I've noted before ;).

Anyone know which transit hotel GF uses for F passengers in Muscat? - I have a 15 hour stop over (through the day) in Feb 07

Thanks

The transits with GF can be a killer. There are a few close to the airport at Muscat, but I'm not sure which ones they use.

We flew BAH-DXB last night on a 342, but it had the old config (blue) seats. I guess they won't use the skybeds on shorthaul. :( The seats were the same/similar as on our DEL-BAH flight (763).

Hope this helps:

https://fotoalbum.web.de/gast/crossair/Gulf_Air_Sky_Beds

Nice pics, I guess this is first?? do you have any pics of their new 330 business class seats?

We flew BAH-DXB last night on a 342, but it had the old config (blue) seats. I guess they won't use the skybeds on shorthaul. :( The seats were the same/similar as on our DEL-BAH flight (763).

GF often use thier A330s and refurbished A340s with skybedson their shorthaul routes bewtean MCT and BAH. I'm scheduled on an A330 in February.

I've also been on an A330 with skybeds (as they all have) between DEL and MCT

Nice pics, I guess this is first?? do you have any pics of their new 330 business class seats?

The blue seats are the Business Class seats and are identical to the seats in the A330. The A340 J seats, however, have less of an angle when in flat bed position i.e. almost 180 degrees but not quite.

I flew BAH-SIN on 7th Jan. F had 1 pax and J had 1 seat spare. I thought the hard product was excellent. (I still think QF skybed was a bit more comfy). The ambience was ten times better than QF.

I was happy with food and entertainment.

What let GF down on this leg was the cabin crew. it took 2.5 hrs to finish the meals serrvice and then it started again 2 hours before landing.

On these short o/n flights I would have liked the service sped up a little.

Hi everybody,

I gonna fly Fra-Sin-Syd ( First Class ) with Gulf Air in December.
I would like to know if there are any lounges to use in FRA,SIN and SYD.
On the hompage of Gulf Air they say, that there are no lounges at these airports. Can I use partner-lounges?
Are all aircrafts from FRA to Syd already equipped with the sky beds?
And if yes, are there any favorite seats in First-Class?

Thank you very much!!

Markus

Welcolme to Flyertalk AcroFly86 .

In Sydney, Gulf Air use the Air New Zealand business lounge. The NZ F lounge is not available to GF PAX.

In SIN they had been using the SATS lounge but I think this may have changed. I have flights via SIN in April & May so I'll update you then if there is any change.

Don't know about FRA.

Edited to add:
Last time I flew this route was before all the aircraft had been fitted with the new seats. I'm in C this time so unless I get un upgrade :D I won't be able to comment about the best F seats.

Hi everybody,

I gonna fly Fra-Sin-Syd ( First Class ) with Gulf Air in December.
I would like to know if there are any lounges to use in FRA,SIN and SYD.
On the hompage of Gulf Air they say, that there are no lounges at these airports. Can I use partner-lounges?
Are all aircrafts from FRA to Syd already equipped with the sky beds?
And if yes, are there any favorite seats in First-Class?

Thank you very much!!

Markus

Hi,

I did this same route in First Class in December 2006 and all flights had the new Sky Beds on them - which are great. All flights from FRA-BAH and BAH-SYD and return use the upgraded A340-200. There are only 2 rows in F and I prefer the 2nd row as you have more of a feeling of space instead of looking at the bulkhead in the 1st row. The first row is next to the galley and can be noisy when they are opening and closing the cupboards, and the constant moving of the curtain when the crew walk past can be annoying.

The lounge used in FRA is the Cathay Pacific lounge - it's OK, nothing special. The lounge in Bahrain is excellent and the SATS lounge in Singapore has been totally renovated and offers nice surroundings - although with the 1 hour stopover in SIN you hardly have time to use it. The Air New Zealand lounge in SYD is large with a great view of the tarmac.

Hope this helps - have a great flight!

Hi everybody,

I gonna fly Fra-Sin-Syd ( First Class ) with Gulf Air in December.
I would like to know if there are any lounges to use in FRA,SIN and SYD.
On the hompage of Gulf Air they say, that there are no lounges at these airports. Can I use partner-lounges?
Are all aircrafts from FRA to Syd already equipped with the sky beds?
And if yes, are there any favorite seats in First-Class?

Thank you very much!!

Markus

Best F seats are 2A or 2k.
Enjoy:)

Thanks everybody for your help!!
That are great news!
We're really looking forward to the flight in December, as it's the first time we do not fly coach :)

Kind regards,

Markus