Arab News, Thursday, Apr 15, 2021 | Ramadan 3, 1442
Bahrain’s Gulf Air makes progress in delaying jet deliveries
Bahrain:
Bahrain’s Gulf Air has made good progress in its efforts to delay some Airbus
and Boeing aircraft deliveries, its acting chief executive said on Wednesday.
The state-owned carrier has been seeking to push back the delivery schedule of
some new jets amid a slump in global travel due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We had to go renegotiate the delivery dates. We haven’t canceled anything,”
Acting CEO Waleed Abdulhameed Al-Alawi told an online event organized by
aviation consultancy CAPA.
“We have actually negotiated with the main suppliers Boeing and Airbus and we’ve
got good progress with these two scenarios.”
Al-Alawi told Reuters in January the airline would receive some aircraft this
year but was seeking delays in Airbus A320neo and Boeing 787 Dreamliner
deliveries.
“At the moment no airline would be keen on receiving aircraft or accepting
delivery flights to park these airplanes because of costs,” he told the CAPA
event.
The state-owned carrier was currently operating at about 50 percent or 60
percent of its pre-pandemic levels, he said.