Gulf Air

Just flown GF2 LHR-BAH (Airbus 330) Seats 23A/C connecting to GF556 BAH-MCT (Airbus 320) Seats 11E/F. Both economy. After reading some of the reviews on here I was a little concerned however I must say I was very pleased with Gulf Air. We departed late from Heathrow not because of Gulf Air but the usual Heathrow being busy scenario and this meant we would be arrived in Bahrain with a very short connection time of about one hour. The A330 'KC' had been refitted with the new interior which made the cabin smart bright and airy. Seat was comfortable for the six and a half hour journey and I was only just starting to get restless as we arrived. I'm over 6' tall by the way! Cabin crew were very friendly but don't expect much in the way of offerings onboard. We got a drink just after leaving Heathrow then the next offering was two hours later and that was lunch. The food was rather good and I cleared everything! After Lunch the next your get will be just before arrival and that's just orange juice or water. I was starving by the time we arrived in Bahrain but because of the short connection time and arriving late didn't have time to buy anything so next time I would board with supplies. Note that in arrival in Bahrain it will be a bus from the aircraft to the terminal as they park the aircraft up overnight away from the terminal and you'll have to get through another security check too so don't hang about! Bags had been checked through from London so we had everything crossed that they would make it to Muscat too. Flight from BAH-MCT was hassle free the seats actually had more leg room than the flight from London weird! It's only about an hour and a half so comfort not an issue. The aircraft look nearly new so are clean and bright inside and out. You get a cold snack too which was tasty. Crew friendly and both legs and believe it or not our bags arrived too. Well done Gulf Air and fingers crossed it's as good on the way back later this week.

Mediocre at best. I live in the Middle East in Oman. The national carrier Oman Air is consistently ranked among the best and its product is very good when compared to other Middle Eastern airlines. Unfortunately however that ranking seems to have gone to Oman Air's head lately and they have not only increased prices dramatically but are apparently also considering cutting a lot of the services and features that have made them a stand out in a field of also-rans. Because they are above what I can afford for last minute leisure trips I chose to fly Gulf Air to London on the routing MCT-BAH-LHR early this month. The pricing is very competitive and their website originally showed me a wonderful pair of flights that would have only meant a short layover of under two hours in Bahrain. Once the payment screen had been completed however I received ticketing on two flight sets that incorporated a 9.5 hour layover in Bahrain on the way to London and a 7.5 hour layover on the return trip. Amazingly while I was lured in with such a terrific original offer I was now going to be spending nearly one day of my break in Bahrain's mediocre International Airport (and in that facility's mediocre Dilmun Lounge - see separate review). At Muscat we were delayed in boarding and is usual with many Middle Eastern airlines no reason was given for the delay - it just was. Boarding the A320 for Bahrain legroom was quite adequate at 34 inches of pitch I had experienced this on previous short-haul flights with Gulf Air and therefore thought they might be just the ticket to avoid rival Oman Air's new inflationary price structure. After landing at Bahrain International and a lengthy stay in the wildly overpriced Dilmun Lounge I boarded the leg for LHR and was amazed that on an A330 any airline would tighten the seat pith to a measly 31 inches which made for a 7 hour torture ride. Luckily on that leg I had a short row (two seats) to myself and was able to mitigate the pain a little. Sadly Gulf Air has revamped its A330s with new leather seats from Recaro arguably the worst airline seat maker out there. Each of their seats on any aircraft features rough Philips-head screws at precisely where my knees are forced to contact the seat in front of me as I am rather tall and have long legs - sheer torture. If the person in front of me then reclines things are beyond the pale of bearable. Again the flight was delayed and of course there was no explanation of any kind. Gulf Air needs to pull up its socks in terms of food service. While the food was excellent there was precious little of it - only one meal service barely two beverage services and nothing more on an intercontinental price. No comfort packet with eye masks no direly needed ear plugs nothing more. Basically the return trip was the same in reverse although push-back from Heathrow was on the dot. Will I fly Gulf Air again? Probably yes but I'll try to limit it to short haul which is their vastly superior product.

LHR-BAH-DXB. After reading reviews on various site online I wasn't expecting much from Gulf Air. I was lucky enough to fly on one of their newly retrofitted A330-200 from LHR to BAH. I was pleasantly surprised with the aircraft. The new seats were comfortable the IFE didn't have much choice but was the hardware was top quality. The touch screen unit had an USB port to charge personal devices too which was very useful. The aircraft was clean which you'd expect on a newly retrofitted aircraft. The cabin crew were friendly and helpful. The food was actually very nice but lacking in options. Being a red-eye flight there was at least 70% of the seats empty so I got some decent shut eye! The A320 from BAH to DXB was as full capacity as you'd expect for a regional flight. Again clean aircraft decent seats and helpful crew. The snack wasn't very appetizing. Overall for what I paid (£320) I was very impressed and would recommend this airline if you're flying on a budget.

BAH-MNL and plane was an old tired A330 with old seats that were uncomfortable along with a tired looking cabin. Food was the only bright spot which was very good both main meal & the breakfast. The IFE is dreadful and crew had even forgot the portable DVD players so you could not watch any up to date movies or features. This flight is basically carrying workers back home from the Middle East hence it looks like not much effort is being made to upgrade the flight experience on this route sadly. Even though one of the senior cabin crew did state this actual plane is to undergo a refit.

GF 154 Bahrain to Manila. The entire economy section is in a terrible state rickety and stained seats. The food was excellent but the crew didn't enforce the "use the lavatories in your section". People we're leaving economy to use the lavatories in business - that is unacceptable. The crew also seemed not to care that when we landed people were up and moving about the cabin during an active taxi creating several potential hazards.

Delhi - Bahrain - London. This is the third time I have flown Gulf Air. First two times were economy and this time business. All times have been good experiences in the respective classes. On time clean friendly cabin crew. The most recent was yesterday and I flew business from Delhi. All I can say is that I couldn't fault them great seats even on the a321 from Delhi which I was expecting to be a jumped up economy seat but was grateful for a flat bed given the 04.45 departure. Bahrain lounge is up there with emirates and BA T5. A330 to LHR was good great seats nice staff and a nice experience. The only very mild criticism would be that there isn't much choice on the IFE but there was enough to keep me occupied. Great job all I simply don't recognise the poor reviews.

LHR-BAH-BKK. I read the mixed reviews here before booking business class to Bangkok via Bahrain after seeing Gulf Air has started to refurbish their cabins. First leg LHR-BAH was on a refurbished A330. Seats were excellent far more comfortable than they look. Service was good and food was plenty and above standard for business class. The let down was the AVOD system which was quite limited. After a stay over in Bahrain the second leg to BKK was in a non-refurbished cabin (travel tip: get a set in row 1 or 2 as these seats are better). The cabin was old worn but clean. Service and food matched the first leg and was excellent. The old entertainment system was next to useless but a tablet like device was handed out which was well specked with movies and series and the selection was better than the AVOD system in the refurbished cabin. On arrival to BKK priority immigration cards were handed out and bags arrived quickly on the carousel. For the price an excellent trip and well recommended.

BAH-BKK-BAH I was given a middle seat instead of a window seat as I requested when I booked my ticket from Gulf Air (Airport Office) two days before my flight. The check-in staff member was very stiff she did not smile and did not greet the customer! When I requested her a window seat she said the only available seats were middle seats? When I boarded the aircraft the Cabin Crew were chatting with each other rather than greeting and directing passengers to their seats. Zero customer service. The seat was in a very bad condition old and stained the metal frame structure inside the seat cushion was squeezing my back. I had a hard time reclining the seat. Food was really good I enjoyed it. Cabin crew served me a glass of wine when I asked her later for another one the answer was "I will get back to you". I am still waiting for her! I requested earplugs because the child seated in the next aisle was being very loud the answer was "we don't give earplugs on night flights". Never heard that before. The Return flight was exactly the same.

Horrible Business Class. Never fly their Business Class. Do not go by the pictures they advertise on their website. The business class that we had from London to Bahrain had reasonable seats (reclining though not flat beds as advertised) service was decent and food good. However Bahrain-Delhi flight (which was a night flight) that we had was a disaster - premium economy seats (not Business Class as promised) which barely reclined no alcoholic drinks offered as apart from our family (and perhaps another couple of people) all other seats were upgrades due to an overbooked flight. Service was quite pathetic and no one seemed to care. Horrible experience. We would strongly advise against taking Business Class on Gulf Air.

Outbound flight from LHR to BAH was excellent good service and good food/drink. The second stage from BAH to BKK was far from good with unresponsive staff and poor quality food. The return journey from BKK to BAH was once again let down by the staff attitude toward the customer however once again the second part of the flight from BAH to LHR was much better with the exception of the headrest TVs which seemed to work when they felt like. Toilets were blocked from the outset of the journey however the general feeling was that is was ok considering the very reasonable fares offered against their competitors.