Daily Times

DUBAI: Bahrain’s struggling carrier Gulf Air said Wednesday it reduced losses by 62 percent last year as a result of the company’s restructuring.

Losses fell from 62.7 million dinars ($166.29 million) in 2014 to 24.1 million dinars ($63.92 million) last year, Gulf Air said in a statement.

“I am delighted with these results. 2015 delivered the fruits of Gulf Air’s ongoing holistic business strategy, implemented since the airline’s 2013 restructuring,” said the carrier’s chairman, Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al-Khalifa. Gulf Air’s losses stood at 196 million dinars ($519.8 million) in 2013.

The carrier serves more than 40 destinations with a fleet of 28 narrow and wide-body planes.

Gulf Air was established in 1974 as a partnership of Bahrain with Abu Dhabi, Oman and Qatar. By the early 1990s, it had become the largest Middle East carrier. However, by the mid-1990s, it started to lose ground because of an economic downturn in the oil-producing region and competition from new carriers.

Bahrain’s former partners have since divested and focused on building their own airlines, leaving Manama to bear the losses. The company sacked 15 percent of its staff in 2013.