Gulf Traveller to commence Daily Direct Flights from Abu Dhabi to Birmingham in 2005

Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, Kingdom of Bahrain and Sultanate of Oman is expanding its international network with the introduction of non-stop flights from Abu Dhabi International Airport to Birmingham International Airport, in England, commencing early 2005.

The new route will be operated by Gulf Traveller, the airline’s all-economy full service subdivision, which operates extensively throughout the Arabian Gulf region, the Indian Subcontinent and Far East Asia.

Flights are expected to start on 1 April 2005 and will be operated with a Boeing 767-300ER. The Abu Dhabi to Birmingham service will commence with four services per week (Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays) until 20 June when frequencies will be increased to a daily operation.

James Hogan, President and Chief Executive at Gulf Air said, “We’ve done our research. The service will offer the shortest elapsed time between the UK's industrial heartland and Abu Dhabi. The schedule has been planned to provide improved connections to major Indian Sub-Continent and Far East Asian destinations, and will therefore meet the travel requirements of vacationers as well as businessmen in all three centres, enhancing commercial and leisure travel links. In addition, overseas students attending universities in the centre of England and the Asian communities in this region will also benefit."

The addition of the Abu Dhabi to Birmingham service increases Gulf Air’s daily direct flights from the Gulf to the UK to six. Gulf Air currently operates five daily flights from the Gulf to London Heathrow, and the addition of the Birmingham service will bring the number of weekly flights operated by the airline to 41.

 James Hogan expects a rapid uptake of this service, “Business and leisure travellers are looking for every opportunity to fly from Birmingham International Airport, which avoids the delays usually associated with journeys to Heathrow, especially from the north of London,” he said.

Birmingham International Airport is the UK's second largest airport outside London, and the UK's fifth largest overall. It is located north-west of the City of Birmingham which lies at the industrial heart of England.

Birmingham is close to popular tourist destinations such as Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of Shakespeare, and the Cotswolds area renowned for its beautiful countryside and picture-book English villages. It is also located close to some of the world’s best known industries such as Jaguar cars and the National Exhibition Centre (NEC).

The airport boasts excellent road and rail connections to the rest of the country. A main line railway station lies adjacent to the airport, which is located close to motorway connections for the M6 to the North, M5 to the West and M40 to London.