BizBahrain_March_April_2017

Expert Opinion | Information Technology
discovered, and consequently a new era
had begun. More visitors started coming
to Bahrain. The first service of Imperial
Air’s flying boat took place. It took 3 days
to reach London.
In 1936, the operation of HP 42
aircraft from London to India via Bahrain
was stepped up to a twice weekly
frequency. In 1937, Bahrain saw the
regular service of Empire sea planes.
The landing strip of these giants on the
water was from where the Marina club is
located in Mina Salman today.
As part of the natural progression,
Gulf Aviation Company was formed
in 1950, which is considered a
significant year not only for Muharraq
as an international airport, but also for
Bahrain’s own commercial aviation
history. Gulf Aviation Company is the
forerunner of Gulf Air. Then flights were
started from Bahrain to Saudi Arabia.
The tiny office was located in Bab Al
Bahrain. Later it was owned by Kanoo
group. It assisted in the quest for oil
sources in the Gulf.
And from the 1950s, British Overseas
Airways Corporation (BOAC) operated
several services a week through Bahrain.
These included weekly services to
Karachi, Singapore, Hong Kong and three
times a week to Sydney. And in 1951,
International Airlines like Pan AM, BOC,
Air France started operations to Bahrain,
and the Bahrain Airport hangar was built
by the British Royal Air Force. Later that
decade, Muharraq Airport got its new
terminal in 1959. Bahrain was the only
country in this region to have an airport.
Major expansion plan was completed
in 1971 for Bahrain International
Airport which included opening of new
passenger facilities and a large area that
could accommodate four Boeing 747
aircrafts. Further, during the same time,
Qantas, British Airways, Air India and
Singapore Airlines all began to use the
Bahrain International Airport as a major
transit stop with their B747 aircraft. In
1973, BOAC shares were purchased by
Bahrain, Oman, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar
governments to take ownership of the
Gulf Aviation Company. Hence, in 1974
Gulf Aviation became officially Gulf
Air and new aircraft DC-10 became
operational. Gradually other airlines
started operating in Bahrain.
First flight of Concord to Bahrain
took place in June 1976. The flying
time between London and Bahrain was
only 3 hours on Concord. From that
point, Europe started to understand the
significance of Bahrain and its strategic
location. In 1977, the first helicopter
B0105 was acquired for the Royal
Bahrain Air force which was used for
patrolling the Bahrain coastal areas. And
in the same year Air force academy was
also established.
In the 1980s, as the Bahrain
International Airport started seeing
a great number of passengers, major
expansion plans and renovations have
commenced to prepare for Bahrain’s
future aviation growth.
In 1990, F5 and F16 fighter planes
were used by Bahrain Air force as
Bahrain joined US Air force to liberate
Kuwait from Iraq’s invasion.
A decade later other countries
withdrew from Gulf Air; Qatar withdrew
in 2002, Abu Dhabi in 2005 and Oman in
2007. In May 2007 Gulf Air became fully
owned by Bahrain.
In 2007 Bahrain Air was founded as a
budget, low-cost airline and commenced
operations in 2008. However, it ceased
operations in 2013.
In 2010 Bahrain International
Airshow was launched, the flagship
event to showcase Bahrain to the
world in the aviation industry. All the
big aviation companies and aircraft
manufacturers take part in this event
to display their unique and exclusive
aviation services and capabilities while
providing an enjoyable attraction to the
locals, which puts Bahrain on the world
map.
Due to the increase demand of
air travel, Bahrain has been taken
good progress steps towards the
expansion project of the Bahrain
International Airport which will be in
line with the Kingdom’s 2030 vision.
The new passenger terminal part of
the expansion will be ready by 2018,
which will be four times the size of the
existing terminal and will be able to
accommodate 14 million passengers a
year. The departure hall will have 108
check-in counters, 24 passport control
booths and 28 security lanes.
Dr. Jassim Haji
Technology Executive &
Researcher
www.facebook.com/DrJassimHaji
bh.linkedin.com/in/dr-jassimhaji-7b5885125
March-April 2017
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