Gulf Air is the principal flag carrier of Bahrain. Headquartered in Muharraq, adjacent to Bahrain International Airport. Its main base is Bahrain International Airport. Unlike its largest rivals Emirates, Etihad Airways, and Qatar Airways which focus on transit passenger traffic through their respective hubs, Gulf Air has focused on point-to-point passenger traffic.
In the late 1940s Freddie Bosworth, a British pilot and entrepreneur, began an air taxi service to Doha and Dhahran from Bahrain. Bosworth later expanded service and on 24 March 1950 registered Gulf Aviation Company Limited as a private shareholding company. This makes its current operating company, Gulf Air, one of the oldest carriers in the Middle East. In 1973 the governments of the Emirate (now Kingdom) of Bahrain, the State of Qatar, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the Sultanate of Oman agreed to purchase the BOAC Associated Companies holding in Gulf Aviation. The Foundation Treaty was signed on 1 January 1974 and gave each government a 25% shareholding in Gulf Aviation, which became a holding company. The operating company was now branded as Gulf Air and became the flag carrier for the four states. On 6 November 2007, Gulf Air became fully owned by Bahrain.
Gulf Air is a member of the Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO).
Livery
Airbus A320-214, registration A9C-AP, built 2012, serial number 5171 Hamad International Airport (DOH), Doha, Qatar, 23 May 2016
