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So how can Gulf Air convince people to fall in love with the airline again? The answer is clear, according to the company’s Chief Commercial Officer Karim Makhlouf, for the ‘first time, Gulf Air’s strategic and commercial strategy has been created with Bahrain and its people in mind’, writes Stan Szecowka.
For families, it will be introducing Family First – a series of competitively-priced packages for customers travelling with their spouses and children, offering special privileges both on the ground and in the air. Parents can relax while children enjoy a selection of toys and games whilst they are looked after by professionally-trained Sky Nannies.
As a first step in this Family First programme, Gulf Air will be opening a state-of-the-art, interactive, one-stop-shop in Seef Mall where families can come, enquire and book tickets in a friendly atmosphere while enjoying some trademark Arabian hospitality.
For the corporate business segment, Gulf Air will be introducing Falcon Corporate Plus – one of the region’s most competitive and innovative incentive programmes yet – designed exclusively for corporate travellers.
The Falcon Corporate Plus programme offers a basket of exclusive privileges that can will be tailor-made for each client. The selection of benefits include exclusive price discounts, free upgrades from economy to Falcon Gold class, free lounge access for economy class passengers, and both free parking and chauffeur service to-and-from Bahrain International Airport.
Gulf Air’s popular Frequent Flyer programme will also undergo a makeover – offering customers even more privileges and value-added benefits. The programme will offer the most attractive redemption benefits in the region, insiders say.
“The core proposition of our network is to provide better convenience to our home-market customers and generate a new market of travellers who wish to conduct their business in the region and return home the same day,” Mr Makhlouf explained. “Currently our network schedule offers a double-daily service to seven major regional cities and we are looking to increase this.
“Commercially we have also focused on the needs of our local customers. Through conducting extensive surveys we understand their needs and more importantly, how we can win back their business.”
In a proactive step to regain its home market share, the airline has already announced a discount for government officials when they book their travel directly with Gulf Air. It will also be opening ‘smart offices’ in ministries and key government departments so that government travellers can book flights ‘on the go’.
This discount programme not only saves a considerable sum from the government departments’ travel budget but also allows them to easily support their national carrier. Gulf Air has also designed a new incentive scheme for travel agents, which can allow them to increase their commission.
The competition is tougher than ever. The question remains for Gulf Air, how can it best compete against the regional players?
“Fortunately, Gulf Air has a very strong and established brand in the region while others are yet to establish their brands, which makes it a bit easier for Gulf Air to communicate to customers,” said Mr Makhlouf.
“Gulf Air’s size is its major advantage; our size and network makes us more agile and enable us to mix and match our products to suit the needs of our customers from different segments.
“Arabian hospitality is another important element for which Gulf Air has earned a name in the aviation industry, where the service is personal and genuinely caring.
“In the past we followed a similar strategy to our regional competitors – challenging them on nearly every route. As a result we were unable to gain market dominance, especially on long and medium range routes.
“Our new strategy differentiates us from our regional competitors; the focus now is on finding and developing niche, under-served markets with potential to grow, where we can establish a leadership position. Our new fleet composition gives us the flexibility to do this.”
Gulf Air hopes to break-even in 2012 and aims to start reporting profits the following year, its Chief Executive Officer Samer Majali recently told reporters.
The airline appears to have made some notable progress, adding 15 new destinations to its network, axed four unviable routes, brought in 14 new aircraft, improved its on-time performance by seven per cent and achieved a fleet technical dispatch reliability of 98.9 per cent.
“Now the time has come for us to focus on our customers’ needs and increase our commercial efficiency through aggressive sales and marketing in order to make Gulf Air a sustainable and ultimately, a profitable airline,” said Mr Makhlouf.
“However, the aviation industry is subject to several volatile factors such as geographical, political, social and economic circumstances that can have an impact on its business and profitability. Our target remains to reach a point of financial equilibrium as soon as possible.”
Gulf Air has taken a huge hit as a result of the unrest in Bahrain and the double cancellation of this year’s F1 race which it sponsors. Natural disasters and massive fuel price hikes have not helped matters either.
“There is one thing guaranteed in aviation, there is never a dull moment,” said Mr Makhlouf.
“This year we have been plagued by one incident after another - rising fuel prices, volcanic ash and the situation in the region as well as Bahrain, which had a knock-on effect on the Formula 1 event that was eventually cancelled for this year.
“Obviously we were disappointed about the cancellation, however, the country’s main priority at the moment is to regain international confidence and its reputation as the best place to do business, visit, live and work.”
Gulf Air appointed Mr Makhlouf as CCO earlier this year. He joined Gulf Air last October as director commercial planning and was leading one of the airline’s critical departments ensuring the company’s business strategies were delivered.
Mr Makhlouf has more than 14 years experience in key commercial and strategic planning areas of the airline industry, along with a good operational understanding. He started his career with Lufthansa working in several of the company’s key divisions such as pricing, network planning and project management before becoming the senior vice president of German Wings, a subsidiary of Lufthansa.
Later, he moved to SkyEurope airlines as its CCO and since 2008 he was the CCO and deputy CEO of Malev Hungarian Airlines before joining Gulf Air.
With a career flying high, what enticed him to join Gulf Air during one of the most turbulent times in its 61-year history?
“I joined Gulf Air for three reasons; firstly I believe that it can reach sustainability and in my position as CCO I can help achieve this. Secondly, I respect the CEO Mr Majali, who is a strong leader and I like to work with strong leaders. Finally, Gulf Air has played a pioneering role in aviation in the region and I believe it will continue to do so for many years ahead. I want to be part of it.”
Mr Makhlouf recently became a father. His wife Theresa gave birth to Louis Elias seven weeks ago and the family has settled in Amwaj Islands.
“I have been made to feel very welcome in Bahrain by both locals and expatriates. Bahrain is a melting pot for many cultures and I enjoy this diversity,” he said.
“Bahrain offers island living in a relaxed, cosmopolitan environment, and is regarded to be the most welcoming, tolerant and liberal society in the Gulf – a high quality of life with low cost of living, something very rare these days. The place I live – Amwaj – is a perfect example of this.
“In Gulf Air alone we have employees from over 40 nationalities, speaking more than 50 languages, which again makes it a thriving and dynamic workplace environment.”
