Gulf Air, the national carrier of Bahrain, on Monday said revenues for the first half of 2012 rose six percent compared to the same period last year.
The airline, which has suffered losses in the wake of political unrest in the tiny Gulf kingdom, also said passenger numbers increased by 13 percent for January to June while seat load factors reached 77 percent, up five percent on H1 2011.
The carrier has also achieved savings of BD6.8m between January and May as part of its plan to cut costs.
Gulf Air CEO Samer Majali also said the airline’s Falcon Gold premium class saw 35 percent growth while economy class witnessed 12 percent growth.
He added that the airline’s on-time punctuality rose to 79 percent, an increase of one percent in 2011.
Majali said customer complaints reduced by 11 percent in the first half of the year.
Majali added: “We were able to achieve these results with the combined efforts of rationalised route network, fleet optimisation, improved sales efficiency, products and services, cost efficiency measures and expenditure reduction.
“This is by no means a small achievement considering factors such as the temporary suspension of eight profitable routes and high fuel prices that have had a negative impact on our traffic and revenue.
“We are pushing forward with our cost-efficiency and sales efficiency measures in 2012 and are targeting a further 15 percent reduction in its cost base for the full year.”
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