Gulf Air could be pulling out of South Africa. According to Kate Nathan, writing in sister internet publication TNN, Gulf Air is planning to drop its SA service in a streamlining operation that will also see the demise of its Sydney and Dublin operations. Network inefficiency is cited as one of the major reasons for the airline’s losses. FTW was awaiting official confirmation from the airline when this issue went to press on Monday morning. This will be Gulf Air’s second exit from South Africa, having left in 1997 for commercial reasons and returned in 2005. In the meantime, TNN reports that the remaining contenders are planning significant frequency upgrades: Dubai-based Emirates will up its services from double daily to start flying 18 services a week from Johannesburg; Abu Dhabi-based Etihad begins daily services in August; and Qatar has the rights to begin daily services, not expected by industry watchers to begin until the second half of the year. In January Gulf secured the rights for daily flights on the SA route, but maintained its service at three times a week.
