GF to drop Singapore
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MIDDLE Eastern carrier Gulf Air will cease its flights to Singapore as part of a radical restructuring plan approved last week.
Details of the cost-cutting program are now emerging, including the cutting of six destinations including Singapore.
A confidential memo sent to staff by new CEO Andre Dose said “we are ata critical juncture for our company” and foreshadows “drastic cost cuts” for Gulf Air.
“We will also stop our operations to the six heavily loss-making long-haul destinations i.e. Dublin, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Sydney and Singapore,”he said.
Dose said first stage of the restructuring program, worth A$382m, would also see the fleet size cut from 34 to 28, and allow it to redeploy its resources and increase flight frequencies to existing key destinations.
He also foreshadowed the later expansion of the network to add new connections to “major economic centers that are of growing importance to the economy of Bahrain and Oman”.
A second stage of restructuring would see a $605m investment to improve the quality of GF product on the ground and in the air.
Existing Airbus aircraft would be refurbished, four new A321s introduced and some of its A340s would be replaced by five newer Airbus A330 aircraft, and the carrier’s Gulf Traveller brand would also be phased out.
“You can judge by the staggering amount how much stress our carrier is in,” Dose said.
He also foreshadowed a reduction in Gulf Air’s workforce, with details yet to be announced.
The carrier hasn’t made any official announcement
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