Minister tells cos to remain in tune with economic development plans

Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed, the Minister of Transportation & Telecommunications yesterday urged companies operating in the aviation sector to be consistent with the Kingdom’s economic development plans by helping to increase the government’s non-oil revenues.

“The measures taken recently have significantly improved the performance of Gulf Air Aviation Group (GFG), strengthening the company’s management of its assets,” said the Minister while chairing the second meeting of the board of directors of GFG, Bahrain Airport Company (BAC), and Gulf Aviation Academy (GAA) at GFG’s headquarters in Muharraq. He told the meeting that more needed to be done “in the coming period for GFG to realise all its goals.”

The move, he said, includes improving the country’s investment in aviation infrastructure, achieving positive key performance indicators, and strengthening the strategic and financial management of subsidiary companies. On the occasion, board members discussed planned BAC and GAA projects as well as reports on subsidiaries Hala Bahrain, Bahrain Jet Fuel Company, Bahrain Airport Services Company, and Bahrain Duty-Free.

New passenger terminal

The meeting reviewed reports on commercial projects related to the development of the new Passenger Terminal Building. Strategic partnerships plans for the construction and development of an airside transit hotel with the private sector as part of the Airport Modernisation Programme were also discussed. BAC’s Executive Management delivered an update on the construction of Passenger Terminal Building, which is in its final stages and reviewed follow-up reports from Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide on the ongoing operational readiness trials for the launch.

Attendees were also briefed on the progress of ongoing familiarisation and contractor training sessions to acquaint team members with the new terminal’s IT systems and other state-of-the-art equipment used at security checkpoints, registration counters, and luggage areas. The board stressed the importance of this next stage in light of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s aviation sector experiencing rapid growth.

Passenger numbers reached 709,000 in May this year compared to 666,000 during the same period in the previous year, according to Civil Aviation Affairs statistics. Discussions also focused on Gulf Aviation Academy’s plans for expansion through modern equipment and the introduction of new aviation and logistics training programmes.