Manama, Bahrain, The board of directors of Gulf Air announced today that it has accepted the resignation of the chief executive officer, Samer Majali, submitted earlier this year following the appointment of Gulf Air board of directors in mid-November. Majali will remain in his position until the end of 2012.

Majali joined Gulf Air in 2009, when he introduced a restructuring plan to build a national airline. During 2010 the airline made progress towards commercial sustainability, significantly cutting costs, increasing revenue and reducing operating losses by over BHD 50 million despite, a difficult operating environment characterised by high-fuel costs and increased competition.

In 2011 the combination of local and regional developments and global economic pressures disrupted the airline’s financial targets. Despite this setback significant milestones were achieved across its customer product and service offering.

The Gulf Air board of directors expressed their thanks to Majali for his contribution to Gulf Air and the strong leadership he has shown over the last three years.

They also recognised the achievement of Majali following the successful renegotiations of the airline’s order book resulting in the reduction of the long-term financial liability of the airline by approximately 50%.

Majali thanked King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa for his leadership, the Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa for his support, and the Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa for his trust, confidence and guidance and finally the Members of the Gulf Air board of directors for their counsel.

He also thanked the employees and management of Gulf Air for their support and their hard work towards achieving significant progress during the last three years in a challenging operating environment.

Finally he stressed the importance of Gulf Air to the Kingdom and economy of Bahrain and wished the airline every success in the implementation of the new stagey.