Gulf Air, the flag carrier of the tiny island nation of Bahrain, flies to a number of destinations throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Asia with a fleet of Airbus narrowbody aircraft and Boeing 787-9s. It serves London via both Gatwick and Heathrow with the Dreamliner, and since I haven’t done a Gatwick flight in a while, I decided to fly to Bahrain International from there.
Server: Solo
Airline: Gulf Air
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
Origin: Gatwick Airport, Crawley, United Kingdom (LGW)
Destination: Bahrain International Airport, Muharraq, Bahrain (BAH)
Flight Number: GF8
Route: EGKK-OBBI
Seat: (Falcon Gold)
Time En Route: 6 Hours 32 Minutes
Boarding our aircraft in the late morning. Gulf Air flies 10x 787-9s, with 2 remaining on order. As the only widebody, long-haul aircraft in the Gulf Air fleet, these are common sights at both Gatwick and Heathrow, Machester, Guangzhou, Singapore, Bangkok, and Manila.
Holding short while we spool up Engine #2. Gatwick is currently the second-busiest airport in the UK and the 8th in Europe, although it may soon go up a notch or two on the second scale, due to slots at Heathrow being at a premium.
Off to Bahrain
Climbing over the English Channel
Cruising near Frankfurt
We’ve started our intial descent over the Persian Gulf
Turning onto the base leg for our final descent into Bahrain International Airport
Landing in Muharraq
Clear of the runway and waiting a few minutes for our gate to open
Parked at Gate 20 at BAH. Although not as well-known as the Big 3 Gulf carriers of Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar, Gulf Air is a very good airline, with its only real drawback being its comparatively limited route network.