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TravelMole Interview: James Hogan, president, Gulf Air
The Gulf Air president says carriers in the Middle East have been buoyed by steady demand from Indian and Asian markets, even during the war and SARS epidemic.
President and chief executive, James Hogan told TravelMole: “The first half of this year has been tough for all airlines but what we saw in June was more encouraging.”
Gulf Air posted a strong start to the third quarter, with an 11.6% increase in passengers and 22.9% increase in premium traffic in July.
Mr Hogan said: “In July the passengers carried was up 13% and we are already seeing a 12% increase in passenger numbers in August.
“Air travel in the Middle East is totally different to transatlantic travel. The school holidays are on at the moment and it gets very hot here so there is a mass exodus to Europe. And a lot of this leisure travel is in first or business.
“In the last four weeks we have seen a strong surge in Asian sales, and at the same time traffic is good in all classes into our European hubs.
Mr Hogan says Middle East carriers like Gulf Air have benefitted from being less reliant on transatlantic routes, and instead move a lot of traffic through India and Pakistan.
“SARS had a greater impact on passenger numbers than the war in Iraq because we knew about the war and were prepared for it.” But Mr Hogan says Gulf Air has aggressively marketed its product through tourism bureaus and hotel groups in Asia, which has helped to keep sales up.
Mr Hogan says demand was steady during the war because it was “business as usual in most of the Gulf”, plus the carrier benefitted from media traffic flying into Bahrain and onto Kuwait. However, the SARS epidemic forced the carrier to drop Hong Kong for four weeks.
The carrier is on track with its recovery plan, Project Falcon, and Mr Hogan says results should be in line with expectations – to post a £20 million loss in 2003, and break even in 2004.
Gulf Air launches flights between Bahrain and Sydney from 23 November, and a daily flight to Athens on the same day. Mr Hogan says the carrier hopes to capitalise on the large amount of traffic operating between Greek, Turkish and Egyptian communities in the Middle East and Australia.
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