Gulf Air mulls legal action against Paraguayan carrier

GULF AIR: Bahrain carrier miffed by reported livery copying by Paraguayan operator. (Getty Images)

Gulf Air is weighing up its legal options after a Paraguayan airline released details of a new livery almost identical to the gold and white scheme of the Bahraini carrier.

According to Bjorn Naf, the outgoing CEO of Gulf Air: ''only the feet of the falcon are missing,'' Air Transport Intelligence magazine reported this week.

Gulf Air denied that it approved the use of its livery design to Regional Paraguaya, a charter airline which began operations last July, The National reported.

"There has been no agreement of any kind to sell or license Gulf Air's livery rights to any other airlines," the company said in a statement. "We will take whatever steps we deem necessary to preserve the integrity of our brand."

Regional Paraguaya operates two Boeing 737s serving Ciudad del Este, in southern Paraguay, with plans to increase its fleet to four aircraft and expand its network to 13 cities in nine Latin American countries.

A Gulf Air spokeswoman said the carrier was investigating whether the Latin American carrier had already painted its aircraft in the design, or whether the design was only being marketed on its website.

According to Skyliner Aviation, an online magazine, one Paraguaya aircraft has already been painted in Gulf Air’s colours and is awaiting delivery from Lima, Peru.

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READERS' COMMENTS

Gulf Air mulls legal action against Paraguayan carrier
Posted by Thomas Paine, Manama, Bahrain on Tuesday 7 July 2009 at 11:47 UAE time


I wonder if Regional Paraguaya has a better record of on-time departures and arrivals than Gulf Air? Lost Baggage? Profitability? Does Regional Paraguaya change senior management as frequently as Gulf Air?

If the "Parrot" is using the "Falcon" as its business role model, I give them another year or two of survival, as both are certainly headed for extinction!

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