‍BAHRAIN — The first keynote interview saw Jeffrey Goh, CEO of Gulf Air Group. Interviewed by Mike Pilling. Dr. Goh opened with Bahrain’s open skies policy:

“Gulf Air itself is building connectivity, but also inviting other airlines to connect to Bahrain. The policy that the Kingdom has is a very liberal open skies agreement policy. It’s open to any airline that wishes to serve, and we’ll continue to encourage those airlines to do so. From Gulf Air’s perspective, competition is always welcome. It just makes us stronger and better.”

On the Gulf Air group, he commented:

“ I think it’s a very unique structure. There aren’t too many holding companies like this around, but I will say that I’ve been in this position for a year and a half, and it’s a phenomenal opportunity to bring the airline and the airport together. We know in this industry how often the airlines and airports don’t see eye to eye. Having the airline and the airport in the same group allows us to explore more lucrative opportunities, whether it’s connecting flights, connection times, or transfer processes."

"Given that Gulf Air at Bahrain International Airport represents about 70 to 75% of the operations, having these together allows us as a group, as a collection of national aviation assets, to drive what I would say are the two key missions of the group. One is to become a positive contributor to the GDP of the Kingdom, and the other is to increase the international brand equity of the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Gulf Air group”.

The next topic was the importance of putting Bahrain on the map, and the role a well respected flag carrier plays:

“If you look back at the history of the airline, it was owned by one country 75 years ago. It was owned by four countries, including Abu Dhabi at the time. It wasn’t just a single country’s ambition but multiple countries, but this time has evolved. Bahrain has become the sole owner of Gulf Air. Importantly, how do we put Bahrain on the international map? An airline, a national carrier, will always be your international flying billboard, and that’s an important part of that."

"It’s not just about the size of the Bahrain market or how big or small it is. It is also about connecting traffic from east to west, west to east, and south. Along the way, we aim to introduce Bahrain to the global map."

In the next five years, Gulf Air expects to grow its network by 25%, adding destinations both east and west of Bahrain, as well as in Africa. “This year, we've added Shanghai and Nanjing in China, as well as Munich in Germany—our second destination in the country after Frankfurt. We also initiated routes to Ajar and Baghdad in Europe. Seasonally, we included Rhodes and Geneva as summer destinations."

"Our aim is to keep expanding, including into Africa. We have two routes to Africa at the moment—Cairo and Casablanca. However, the challenges we face are not solely about our growth ambitions. There are a few key issues at play, particularly political tensions in different regions, which can impact operations.”