Bahrain and Abu Dhabi want to work more closely together again in aviation. The two countries once had a joint airline called Gulf Air, along with Oman and Qatar, but rivalries resulted in each running its own airline. 

Gulf Air remained as a state carrier from Bahrain. In 2018, Etihad Airways signed a letter of intent that they would like to work closely together. Not much has happened since then, as there was a bit of a crunch between the two governments in the meantime and aviation immediately got it.

In any case, the two airlines now want to significantly expand codeshare flights in the first phase and work together in the areas of maintenance and crew training. A close cooperation in air freight is currently being explored.

“This agreement reinforces the strength of the ongoing partnership between our two airlines. We look forward to exploring pragmatic ways the two airlines can work increasingly seamlessly between our two capitals, improving the benefits and customer experience for our most frequent travelers, and extending the reach of our shared networks beyond our hubs, ”said Etihad- Chef Tony Douglas.

“Our relationship with Etihad Airways has always been close and today we are achieving a higher level of collaboration with many more opportunities on the horizon between the national airlines of the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. This agreement will enable both of us to offer passengers a better experience and expand their travel options, ”said Gulf Air CEO Waleed AlAlawi.

Once multinational cooperation

Gulf Air was the joint airline of Qatar, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and Oman from the 1970s. The cross-border flag carrier was successful for many years, but rivalries gradually arose. As a result, the cooperation gradually broke up.

In 1993 Qatar got out and formed today's Qatar Airways from the Gulf Air base in Doha. Shortly thereafter, Oman also left the joint airline and founded what is now Oman Air. In 2005, Abu Dhabi also got out, as they wanted to bring their own state carrier into the air with Etihad Airways. An interesting detail in this context is that James Hogan was CEO of Gulf Air at the time and seamlessly transferred to the same management position for the founding of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

After the former partners parted ways step by step, Bahrain is the sole owner of Gulf Air. The carrier expanded - in contrast to its strongly rival competitors - much more slowly and for some time also flew an aging fleet.

The rapprochement of the former partners, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain, shows that the once multinational carrier obviously brought the region more advantages than disadvantages and that it could have significant competitive advantages today. However, a new edition of the “old Gulf Air” is not to be expected.