SALALAH, June 16 - Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, launched Salalah service with flight GF548 which arrived at the Salalah Airport on Saturday. Salim al Yafaei, VP of Salalah Airport, expressed happiness over the launch of the Gulf Air’s seasonal flights and said, “We are delighted to see Gulf Air’s seasonal flights being re-added to our growing list of carriers operating at Salalah Airport. This marks an important milestone for Salalah Airport as it continues to expand operations with flight and passenger activities continue to grow rapidly on yearly basis.” “This accomplishment is fundamentally the direct result of the efforts and collaboration of our dedicated Commercial Operations Unit and other units across Oman Airports and Oman Aviation Group, in coordination with our strategic partners, to promote Salalah Airport and its service options and sustainability accomplishments on an equal footing with the other six airports operated by Oman Airports,” he said.
Gulf Air is a highly recognised airline in the region and the operation of this flight through Salalah Airport will definitely be a critical contribution to our efforts in stimulating further air route expansions to broaden the airport’s network and offer more travel options to our passengers, Al Yafaei said.
The direct flights by Gulf Air will definitely boost tourism between Dhofar Governorate and the Kingdom of Bahrain and will contribute to increasing connectivity for passengers flying from Salalah to the other destinations operated by the Gulf Air.
Gulf Air will be operating three weekly flights between June 15 and September 14 connecting Salalah and Manama.
Al Yafaei hopes that this route will continue to operate after the autumn season to attract more tourists to Salalah, especially when Gulf Air covers many destinations around the world, which will contribute to increase connectivity to Salalah and promoting it as a rich tourist destination. The tourist movement in Salalah is witnessing growth and the number of tourists visiting the city from different European countries during the autumn and winter seasons is fast increasing.
Salalah is an important tourist destination for Gulf nationals and the expatriates living in the region. Furthermore, international tourist arrivals continue to flow in the winter season from October to April, with a large increase in tourists visiting from Europe.
Al Yafaei put stress on the fact that Salalah Airport is vital for Oman’s aviation industry.
“Being the winner of a number of international awards for its contribution to the development of passenger, airline and cargo services, the airport demonstrates Oman Airports’ commitment to keep pace with the rapid growth in order to compete with the major regional and international airports, with the objective to set Salalah Airport to be the fastest growing airport in the coming years.”
In his comments, the Gulf Air’s Chief Commercial Officer Vincent Coste said: “It is a happy moment for us to resume our flights to Salalah to cater to the needs of our passengers from Manama to Salalah. Salalah is a much sought-after destination during summer, which is peak monsoon (Khareef) season in Salalah.” “The service would be in operation from now until mid-September. We will be flying 3 weekly flights and I invite our passengers to experience this summer destination and enjoy its nature and pleasant weather,” he said.
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