Gulf Air and SNCF commence codeshare

Passengers flying to and from France with Bahrain's national carrier Gulf Air can now enjoy seamless travel to nearly 20 destinations across France, thanks to a codeshare agreement between the airline and France's national railway SNFC.

The combined Gulf Air / tgvair ticket allows passengers to buy a single ticket for the entire TGV and Gulf Air journey either originating from or travelling to key destinations on the SNCF network.

The 19 stations included under the codeshare agreement are Aix en Provence TGV Angers St Laud, Avignon TGV, Bordeaux St Jean, Champagne-Ardenne TGV, Le Mans, Lorraine TGV Lille - Europe, Lyon - Part Dieu, St Charles, Montpellier St Roch, Nantes, Nimes, Poitiers, Rennes, St Pierre des Corps / Tours, Strasbourg, Toulon, Valence TGV.

The Gulf Air / SNCF codeshare also allows the airline and travel agents around the world to market the nineteen provincial cities with all their customers.

Commenting on the codeshare agreement Gulf Air Chief Executive Officer Mr. Björn Näf says, "France is a key premium market for Gulf Air and this codeshare agreement with SNCF will further strengthen our presence in the country and enable us to cater even more efficiently to the substantial passenger demand in France to travel to the many popular Gulf Air destinations."

Gulf Air increased its service from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Bahrain from a daily service to a nine times weekly service in October with the addition of two evening services on Wednesdays and Fridays.

"As the national carrier we are confident this will also result in further strengthening Bahrain-France business ties and encourage more leisure tourism traffic between the two countries. This agreement is perfectly in line with our expansion strategy, which seeks growth in markets through partnerships where a non-stop service is not a viable option," Mr Näf concluded.

Mireille Faugere, Director SNCF Voyageurs France Europe, says, "We are delighted to have entered a codeshare agreement with Gulf Air. It not only reinforces the development of our connections and the promotion of our rail network at an international level but it provides our customers across the whole of France the opportunity to discover new, exciting destinations on the Gulf Air network."

The codeshare is being marketed across France and the Middle East through Gulf Air's distribution network including the airline's website gulfair.com, its call centre, local travel agents and other key trade partners.

Gulf Air operates nine flights per week to Paris, offering its award-winning Sky Chef and Sky Nanny services throughout the journey. With convenient connections at the award winning* Bahrain International Airport, Gulf Air can offer exciting destinations such as Bangkok, Katmandu, Manila, Muscat, Dubai and several destinations in India.

*Bahrain was voted to be the best airport for connections in GCC in 2008 by independent auditor, Skytrax.