Gulf Air: Business Class: London-Bahrain
Jul 17, 2003, 10:47 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold, LH Sen, MUCCI, Junior Jet Club.
Posts: 8,103
Gulf Air: Business Class: London-Bahrain
In all my time at Flyertalk, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Gulf Air trip report. Even in the many months spent ‘lurking’ on the boards before I became a member, there seemed to be comparatively little interest in the airline, especially considering the size and frequency of in particular, its intra-Gulf network.
Firstly, a little bit of background. An enterprising British businessman named Freddie Bosworth founded Gulf Air in 1950 in Bahrain. Initially started as an air-taxi service between the then-poor Gulf states, ‘Gulf Aviation’ grew at an amazing speed. By the late 1960s the airline had introduced jet aircraft and had formed a deep relationship with the forerunner to British Airways, BOAC. The British carrier had an extensive role in the start-up of Gulf Air which included helping the airline launch VC-10 services to London Heathrow.
By 1974 the airline had been purchased from its British backers by the four countries of Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar. The 1970s were a decade of extensive expansion for the airline, which culminated in the addition of Lockheed’s masterpiece, the L-1011 TriStar. These aircraft set new standards for airline amenities across the world, not just in the Persian Gulf.
(Seat 2A would love a flight on a Gulf Air “Five Star Tri Star”. 28 deluxe First Class seats between Doors 1 and 2, in a luxurious 2-2-2 format. The centre banks of seats swiveled round so that 4 passengers could sit face-to-face and dine like at a fine restaurant. Gulf Air’s multinational cabin crew would serve the most superb food and drink. The First Class cabin was fitted with a stand-up bar, lounge, library and small boutique. Even Economy class passengers had a small stand-up bar, with a luxurious 2-4-2 seating arrangement. All this added upto a service that prompted one BOAC executive to say, “I wish we had service like Gulf Air”.)
Throughout the 1980s and into the 21st century Gulf Air expanded and renewed its products and services, by adding an ultra-modern fleet of Boeing 767s, Airbus A320s, A330-200s and A340-300s. The carrier also introduced the regions first frequent flyer program, Falcon.
However, a combination of weak economies, political interference and gross mismanagement threw the airline into crisis in the late 1990s. Matters came to a head with a series of unprecedented financial losses, and in 2002 a new management team was introduced led by James Hogan, formerly of bmi british midland. This coincided with the withdrawal of Qatar from the airline, in order to focus their efforts on their own airline Qatar Airways. The remaining states re-capitalised the airline, and a three-year restructuring programme commenced.
This programme is now almost half-way through and the results are encouraging. The airline has unveiled a new, widely acclaimed corporate identity. A new all-economy carrier has been launched to cater for the Gulf’s large numbers of guest workers. The Middle East’s first electronic check-in has been introduced. A comprehensive review of inflight service has been conducted, and the airline is making efforts to better market the tourism potential of its home markets of Bahrain, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
So, what of the Gulf Air of 2003?
Gulf Air Flight 2
Business Class
London Heathrow – Bahrain International
Dep. 1000 / Arr. 1845.
Airbus A340-311 / A4O-LC
Seat 11K
Terminal 3 at London Heathrow was only at medium levels of chaos this morning, compared to the totality of usual. Gulf Air checkin at the ‘C’ zone, and while economy passengers have to negotiate a queuing system, First and Business class passengers have a dedicated desk each at the front of the zone. Checkin was conducted at a swift and efficient speed, and boarding passess issued for my pre-allocated seat.
Unfortunately, due to a ‘ground traffic’ delay, I only had enough time to rush through security, pick up a couple of duty free items and make my way to Gate 25, a short walk from the central shopping area at Terminal 3. Once I reached the Gate lounge, I realized I would be one of the last passengers to board, the lounge being almost empty.
I reached the door of Lima Charlie and my first impressions were: hot. No, not due to the physical charms of the cabin staff (although they were lovely) but the ambient temperature. At first I thought it was warm, after all London was suffering under a heatwave, but in about 5 minutes I realized that there must definitely be a problem with the air conditioning. Sure enough, a cabin crew member apologized for the discomfort and promised that everything was being done to sort the problem out.
So, unable to do anything about the temperature, the cabin crew member took my jacket and led my to my seat. Gulf Air has 24 business class seats in a 2-2-2 arrangement on its A330 and A340, both with 50-inches of pitch. The seats are fairly ‘old school’, but have a generous recline and very soft seat cushions. In some ways they were preferable to the BA flat beds, the last flight I had on those had very hard seat cushions.
After I settled into my accommodation for the next 6 ½ hours, a FA brought round pre take-off drinks of water, orange juice or Champagne. Feeling in a celebratory mood, I took the Champers, but I could’ve done with a battery operated fan as well. An extensive selection of international newspapers and magazines was then distributed. The Captain, a quite young-sounding British chap came over the P/A and apologized for the lack of air-conditioning, mentioning that we were unable to run our APU due to a gate restriction. The Inflight Chef (who’d wandered back from First) seemed skeptical, seeing as the lights and interior stuff was on, but maybe we were hooked up onto ground power which didn’t have enough ‘puff’ to run the airconditioning.
So I settled into a gentle sweat and Biggles came on again. Very apologetic: our slot had been delayed from 1025 (25 minutes after push-back, i.e. an on-time departure) to 1040 as Heathrow had gone to single-runway operations. God knows why, but possibly due to the growing storm activity around the airfield that was in evidence at the time. However, he did have some good news: by a small miracle, Gulf Air had found a ground-air-conditioning unit at the Terminal 3 zoo! This became an interesting spectacle as a grubby blue Bedford truck reversed jerkily up to the No. 3 engine and started to windmill it. However, it didn’t really make much of an effect. Cabin crew were very good, keeping us happy with generous re-fills of Champagne.
Never mind, we shortly pushed back and started the engines, and some cool air began to spill out of the vents above the overhead bins. We had quite a short taxi out to 9R where there was a short queue for departure. In fact, so short that the cabin crew were not ready and we sat on the runway with the Commander furiously activating the ‘chimes’ whilst the crew scampered around for their seats.
Nevertheless we were soon trundling down the runway (I would say hurtling, but this is an A340 and not Concorde remember!) and off into the blue yonder. A bit of moderate chop, but soon enough the seat-belt signs went off and we were over the English Channel.
Time to consult the wine-list and Menu that had been distributed before take-off.
Menu
The people of the Gulf are renowned for their generous spirit and hospitality. This is reflected in the carefully prepared dishes we present here for your enjoyment.
All food is Halal prepared but represents both local and international cuisine.
We sincerely hope you enjoy your meal.
Appetiser
Layers of smoked lamb and grilled halloumi cheese served with tomato vinaigrette.
Entrees
Grilled Beef fillet topped with duo of cheese accompanied with red pepper coulis.
Grilled red snapper with lemon dill butter sauce.
Potato gnocchi tossed in mascarpone and pesto cream sauce
Chicken Cajun salad served with baby mozzarella tomato sunbluch. (Light choice)
Dessert
Cassis miroir - served with raspberry coulis.
Cheese – a selection of international cheeses.
Fresh fruit
Choice of seasonal fruit.
Arabic pastries.
(I’m very sorry but I’ve forgotten the wine list. Suffice to say that the Champagne was Charles Heidseick and the red wine I had with lunch was a Crotzes Hermitage 1999 <sp?> ).
The first course, the lamb, was individually plated and served from the galley. I couldn’t work out if this was standard or if it was because the cabin was only half full. The lamb was an interesting taste, more cured than smoked. But still enjoyable.
The real surprise came with the Entrée. No tray-plopped-in-front-of-you-from-the-trolley-on-to-the-next-row from BA here…..a large silver trolley was wheeled up the aisle, with each selection on top, then potatoes, vegetables, sauces etc. So I managed to have the fillet with my choice of veg, and a tomato sauce that wasn’t even on the menu. Very personal and worked very well. Food itself was so-so, but there we go.
Dessert? The cheese. A frankly pathetic selection of brie and red cheddar. 3 crackers. A good port.
2nd Dessert? Here comes the trolley again. Fresh fruit, Arabic pastries, Cognac, filter coffee. Sorry sir, even though this is a $100 million aeroplane, the Nespresso is broken…..
So, thoroughly fed and watered and with about 3 hours to go to Bahrain. Time for a quick selection in the IFE. This is where Gulf Air really needs to shape up. Nothing in the magazine bared any relation to what appeared on our screens. I managed to work out that one film was the “Adventures of Agent Cody Banks” which stars that guy from “Malcolm in the Middle”. Quite enjoyable, but definitely ‘leave your brain at the door’ cinema!
Having given up on the IFE and switched to the music channel (which actually had some quite alternative and up to the minute house collections) I ploughed my way through the Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Express, Gulf News, Mail, Business Traveller, Tatler, Harpers etc.
About 1 hour from Bahrain, having seen some spectacular scenery above Kurdistan (an unusually northern routing to the Gulf) the Trolley re-appeared. More dinky pastries, and a sumptuous Chicken Roll. More Tea and Coffee, and more Wine.
Landing into Bahrain was from the Northeast, with a long turn to line up on the Northeast facing runway. By now it was dusk and the lights of Manama were spectacular on our left hand side. A brief taxi and we lined up at Gate 17 next to A4O-LH, an A340 recently leased from Airbus/Singapore Air and resplendent in the new Landor-designed livery.
A short walk to passport control, and 4 out of 5 bags had been taken off the carousel before I’d got to it. That’s my favourite thing about Bahrain…..there’s 3 daily flights to Heathrow, but it’s as small as a general aviation terminal. Well not quite, but you get the idea. Highly efficient basically.
So, to sum up. Very impressed with Gulf Air’s Business offering. An extensive service in the current climate. Keep it up. Some little things need to be ironed out, as well as an overhaul of the IFE, but I’m sure these will come. All in all, a good trip.
Firstly, a little bit of background. An enterprising British businessman named Freddie Bosworth founded Gulf Air in 1950 in Bahrain. Initially started as an air-taxi service between the then-poor Gulf states, ‘Gulf Aviation’ grew at an amazing speed. By the late 1960s the airline had introduced jet aircraft and had formed a deep relationship with the forerunner to British Airways, BOAC. The British carrier had an extensive role in the start-up of Gulf Air which included helping the airline launch VC-10 services to London Heathrow.
By 1974 the airline had been purchased from its British backers by the four countries of Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar. The 1970s were a decade of extensive expansion for the airline, which culminated in the addition of Lockheed’s masterpiece, the L-1011 TriStar. These aircraft set new standards for airline amenities across the world, not just in the Persian Gulf.
(Seat 2A would love a flight on a Gulf Air “Five Star Tri Star”. 28 deluxe First Class seats between Doors 1 and 2, in a luxurious 2-2-2 format. The centre banks of seats swiveled round so that 4 passengers could sit face-to-face and dine like at a fine restaurant. Gulf Air’s multinational cabin crew would serve the most superb food and drink. The First Class cabin was fitted with a stand-up bar, lounge, library and small boutique. Even Economy class passengers had a small stand-up bar, with a luxurious 2-4-2 seating arrangement. All this added upto a service that prompted one BOAC executive to say, “I wish we had service like Gulf Air”.)
Throughout the 1980s and into the 21st century Gulf Air expanded and renewed its products and services, by adding an ultra-modern fleet of Boeing 767s, Airbus A320s, A330-200s and A340-300s. The carrier also introduced the regions first frequent flyer program, Falcon.
However, a combination of weak economies, political interference and gross mismanagement threw the airline into crisis in the late 1990s. Matters came to a head with a series of unprecedented financial losses, and in 2002 a new management team was introduced led by James Hogan, formerly of bmi british midland. This coincided with the withdrawal of Qatar from the airline, in order to focus their efforts on their own airline Qatar Airways. The remaining states re-capitalised the airline, and a three-year restructuring programme commenced.
This programme is now almost half-way through and the results are encouraging. The airline has unveiled a new, widely acclaimed corporate identity. A new all-economy carrier has been launched to cater for the Gulf’s large numbers of guest workers. The Middle East’s first electronic check-in has been introduced. A comprehensive review of inflight service has been conducted, and the airline is making efforts to better market the tourism potential of its home markets of Bahrain, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
So, what of the Gulf Air of 2003?
Gulf Air Flight 2
Business Class
London Heathrow – Bahrain International
Dep. 1000 / Arr. 1845.
Airbus A340-311 / A4O-LC
Seat 11K
Terminal 3 at London Heathrow was only at medium levels of chaos this morning, compared to the totality of usual. Gulf Air checkin at the ‘C’ zone, and while economy passengers have to negotiate a queuing system, First and Business class passengers have a dedicated desk each at the front of the zone. Checkin was conducted at a swift and efficient speed, and boarding passess issued for my pre-allocated seat.
Unfortunately, due to a ‘ground traffic’ delay, I only had enough time to rush through security, pick up a couple of duty free items and make my way to Gate 25, a short walk from the central shopping area at Terminal 3. Once I reached the Gate lounge, I realized I would be one of the last passengers to board, the lounge being almost empty.
I reached the door of Lima Charlie and my first impressions were: hot. No, not due to the physical charms of the cabin staff (although they were lovely) but the ambient temperature. At first I thought it was warm, after all London was suffering under a heatwave, but in about 5 minutes I realized that there must definitely be a problem with the air conditioning. Sure enough, a cabin crew member apologized for the discomfort and promised that everything was being done to sort the problem out.
So, unable to do anything about the temperature, the cabin crew member took my jacket and led my to my seat. Gulf Air has 24 business class seats in a 2-2-2 arrangement on its A330 and A340, both with 50-inches of pitch. The seats are fairly ‘old school’, but have a generous recline and very soft seat cushions. In some ways they were preferable to the BA flat beds, the last flight I had on those had very hard seat cushions.
After I settled into my accommodation for the next 6 ½ hours, a FA brought round pre take-off drinks of water, orange juice or Champagne. Feeling in a celebratory mood, I took the Champers, but I could’ve done with a battery operated fan as well. An extensive selection of international newspapers and magazines was then distributed. The Captain, a quite young-sounding British chap came over the P/A and apologized for the lack of air-conditioning, mentioning that we were unable to run our APU due to a gate restriction. The Inflight Chef (who’d wandered back from First) seemed skeptical, seeing as the lights and interior stuff was on, but maybe we were hooked up onto ground power which didn’t have enough ‘puff’ to run the airconditioning.
So I settled into a gentle sweat and Biggles came on again. Very apologetic: our slot had been delayed from 1025 (25 minutes after push-back, i.e. an on-time departure) to 1040 as Heathrow had gone to single-runway operations. God knows why, but possibly due to the growing storm activity around the airfield that was in evidence at the time. However, he did have some good news: by a small miracle, Gulf Air had found a ground-air-conditioning unit at the Terminal 3 zoo! This became an interesting spectacle as a grubby blue Bedford truck reversed jerkily up to the No. 3 engine and started to windmill it. However, it didn’t really make much of an effect. Cabin crew were very good, keeping us happy with generous re-fills of Champagne.
Never mind, we shortly pushed back and started the engines, and some cool air began to spill out of the vents above the overhead bins. We had quite a short taxi out to 9R where there was a short queue for departure. In fact, so short that the cabin crew were not ready and we sat on the runway with the Commander furiously activating the ‘chimes’ whilst the crew scampered around for their seats.
Nevertheless we were soon trundling down the runway (I would say hurtling, but this is an A340 and not Concorde remember!) and off into the blue yonder. A bit of moderate chop, but soon enough the seat-belt signs went off and we were over the English Channel.
Time to consult the wine-list and Menu that had been distributed before take-off.
Menu
The people of the Gulf are renowned for their generous spirit and hospitality. This is reflected in the carefully prepared dishes we present here for your enjoyment.
All food is Halal prepared but represents both local and international cuisine.
We sincerely hope you enjoy your meal.
Appetiser
Layers of smoked lamb and grilled halloumi cheese served with tomato vinaigrette.
Entrees
Grilled Beef fillet topped with duo of cheese accompanied with red pepper coulis.
Grilled red snapper with lemon dill butter sauce.
Potato gnocchi tossed in mascarpone and pesto cream sauce
Chicken Cajun salad served with baby mozzarella tomato sunbluch. (Light choice)
Dessert
Cassis miroir - served with raspberry coulis.
Cheese – a selection of international cheeses.
Fresh fruit
Choice of seasonal fruit.
Arabic pastries.
(I’m very sorry but I’ve forgotten the wine list. Suffice to say that the Champagne was Charles Heidseick and the red wine I had with lunch was a Crotzes Hermitage 1999 <sp?> ).
The first course, the lamb, was individually plated and served from the galley. I couldn’t work out if this was standard or if it was because the cabin was only half full. The lamb was an interesting taste, more cured than smoked. But still enjoyable.
The real surprise came with the Entrée. No tray-plopped-in-front-of-you-from-the-trolley-on-to-the-next-row from BA here…..a large silver trolley was wheeled up the aisle, with each selection on top, then potatoes, vegetables, sauces etc. So I managed to have the fillet with my choice of veg, and a tomato sauce that wasn’t even on the menu. Very personal and worked very well. Food itself was so-so, but there we go.
Dessert? The cheese. A frankly pathetic selection of brie and red cheddar. 3 crackers. A good port.
2nd Dessert? Here comes the trolley again. Fresh fruit, Arabic pastries, Cognac, filter coffee. Sorry sir, even though this is a $100 million aeroplane, the Nespresso is broken…..
So, thoroughly fed and watered and with about 3 hours to go to Bahrain. Time for a quick selection in the IFE. This is where Gulf Air really needs to shape up. Nothing in the magazine bared any relation to what appeared on our screens. I managed to work out that one film was the “Adventures of Agent Cody Banks” which stars that guy from “Malcolm in the Middle”. Quite enjoyable, but definitely ‘leave your brain at the door’ cinema!
Having given up on the IFE and switched to the music channel (which actually had some quite alternative and up to the minute house collections) I ploughed my way through the Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Express, Gulf News, Mail, Business Traveller, Tatler, Harpers etc.
About 1 hour from Bahrain, having seen some spectacular scenery above Kurdistan (an unusually northern routing to the Gulf) the Trolley re-appeared. More dinky pastries, and a sumptuous Chicken Roll. More Tea and Coffee, and more Wine.
Landing into Bahrain was from the Northeast, with a long turn to line up on the Northeast facing runway. By now it was dusk and the lights of Manama were spectacular on our left hand side. A brief taxi and we lined up at Gate 17 next to A4O-LH, an A340 recently leased from Airbus/Singapore Air and resplendent in the new Landor-designed livery.
A short walk to passport control, and 4 out of 5 bags had been taken off the carousel before I’d got to it. That’s my favourite thing about Bahrain…..there’s 3 daily flights to Heathrow, but it’s as small as a general aviation terminal. Well not quite, but you get the idea. Highly efficient basically.
So, to sum up. Very impressed with Gulf Air’s Business offering. An extensive service in the current climate. Keep it up. Some little things need to be ironed out, as well as an overhaul of the IFE, but I’m sure these will come. All in all, a good trip.
Jul 17, 2003, 2:42 pm
#2
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Boston, MA
Programs: UA GS, AA PLAT, DL PLAT, EK SILVER
Posts: 250
Thanks BahrainLad! I've been wondering how Gulf Air shaped up for services to the region. I do wish BA would use the cool silver trolley service instead of, as you mentioned, econo-cart service. Oh well, I trust you had an enjoyable flight.
Steven
Steven
Jul 17, 2003, 11:53 pm
#4
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: New York
Posts: 7,352
Thank you very much for a topnotch trip report! It is always fascinating to read a trip report about the Middle East airline. Gulf Air seems to be catching up with its major competitions in the Middle East, Emirates and Qatar Airways, which are both great airlines.
Thanks,
Carfield
Thanks,
Carfield
Jul 18, 2003, 12:48 am
#5
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: SYD
Programs: Too many golds, no plat: OZ*G, AC*G, NZ*G, VA Gold, QF Gold, HH Gold, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 5,350
Great report, BahrainLad - thanks! GF is on my list to sample one of these days, and I'm looking forward to seeing their classy livery back in Sydney before too long!
Jul 19, 2003, 9:05 am
#6
Join Date: Dec 2001
Posts: 3,046
I last flew gulf in 2001 and found it superb. Most of the FA's at the time were british. Their uniform is quaint, the colour scheme, a little odd, but cute nonetheless. The food from what I can remember was excellent and I took an A330 from what I can recollect.
GF are now returning to SYD later this year, Egypt Air are also code-sharing on their metal here, so here's another choice to get to LHR via SIN and Bahrain.
kawoh.
[This message has been edited by kawoh (edited 07-19-2003).]
GF are now returning to SYD later this year, Egypt Air are also code-sharing on their metal here, so here's another choice to get to LHR via SIN and Bahrain.
kawoh.
[This message has been edited by kawoh (edited 07-19-2003).]
Jul 21, 2003, 5:15 pm
#7
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: NYC
Programs: AA 2MM, Bonvoy LTT, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 14,640