Gulf Air

LHR-BAH 26 December. Skyteam lounge in Terminal 4 is good a little tatty perhaps but the buffet was decent. Self-serve champagne and a decent selection of very cold wines. Flight was pretty ordinary. IFE is poor - half a dozen films on a loop with rubbish image quality so they have started handing out personal media players which are preloaded with a dozen movies and music etc. The standard of service was very good - real care and attention to detail. Food excellent - turkey for Christmas champagne served throughout. Planes are pretty tatty and the prices no better than Emirates or Qatar Airways so even though staff get top marks and the food was good I would never recommend Gulf Air over these two airlines.

BEY-BAH-KUL: BEY-BAH dinner was excellent. BAH-KUL FAs did excellent job. Dinner was wonderful and the 2nd meal prior to arrival is far superior to the grilled vegetarian sandwich they served on the way to Bahrain!

KUL-BAH-BEY. Things better now that GF has introduced their A332 instead of their ancient A340. Seat pitch is a little bit more generous. The 2nd meal before arrival into BAH was simply disgusting - it seems that nobody wanted their sandwich! The meal to BEY was great. Despite Gulf Air's inconsistent quality I find crew professional and dedicated. Their fares are also an attraction for me.

I am a gold card carrying frequent flyer Falcon class. Gulf have clearly decided to dump any premium allegiances by treating business travellers very badly. LHR-DXB no record of (online confirmed) booking bumped from allocated seat on overnight flight to seat with no pitch. BAH- LHR technical problem resulted in a substituted plane which was something out of the 1970's - no apologies terrible seat pitch. Made a formal complaint 2 months ago - heard nothing - Gulf Air have the Ryanair approach to customer service.

Kuwait to Bahrain on new A320 . No PTVs but seat and legroom better than average and with a friendly crew made such a short flight a very pleasant experience. The snack box on this sector is adequate. I would fly GF again if it's on their newer equipment considering that Bahrain airport is a fairly easy airport to transit through.

KUL-BAH-LHR and back - flights not as bad as I expected it to be. Flight from KUL on an ancient A340 which featured peep holes between two toilets at the back of the aircraft (ex- SQ). Flight was packed and seats carpets and other parts of the overhead cabin were falling apart. BAH to LHR was on a similar aircraft but a shade better. Crew generally pleasant and made up for the shabby aircraft. Transit in BAH is tedious with the security checks even upon arrival before proceeding to transfer desk with no consideration to short transits. Return on LHR to BAH was stated A332 but my worst enemy appeared the A340 - same aircraft then took me to KUL eventually. Crew again very pleasant and friendly food alright but Gulf Air needs to really buck up on their aircraft renewal refurbishing or upgrading at least. They have so much to offer otherwise.

Larnaca-Dubai via Bahrain Business class. Gulf Air offers cheap rates compared to with Emirates. The day of departure they suffered a London Heathrow T5 problem with their computer system so my flight was delayed and I had to wait 6 hours in Bahrain for a connecting flight to Dubai. Gulf Air was very good in communicating the delays via SMS. All flights are old style business class but much better than European short or medium haul business class. Service and food was excellent Larnaca to Bahrain average on other flights. Good wine selection. Business Lounge in Bahrain is excellent but I pity the economy passengers who must transit in such poor airport. No security fast track at Bahrain but the security staff is very prompt in screening passenger (not sure that they are very thorough in their safety check though).

Paris CDG to Bahrein and back in Economy. On the flight to BAH (daytime) I found that the hot meal was not good (tasteless) and IFE is really outdated with a very limited choice and no information regarding the hours when the film begins. Not confortable but what you expect from Economy. On the way back (at a terrible time 1.30 am) the weaknesses of the old planes are even more obvious. The economy seat seems to have no more foam left on the back mine could not recline the IFE of my colleague was broken (we were on a front seat so it was the folding type) and would not held in position. I was unable to sleep at all but those who were had the pleasure of being waken up by the crew 2.25 hours before landing to serve breakfast! The service itself was quite disorganised and the crew not professinnal. A shame this is the only direct flight form CDG to BAH.

KUL-BAH BAH-LHR. Kuala Lumpur to Bahrain was upgraded to Business Class on their ancient A340-300 great with the exception of a broken foot rest. Bahrain to London (on ancient A340-300) was a nightmare as there were infants & kids crying all night. It was such a pain having to tolerate the endless wailing for the duration of the flight on an aircraft that has served its shelf life. Gulf Air seriously needs to upgrade their hardware to complement the effort their cabin crew contribute. The other areas which GF needs to focus is their seat pitch (very tight at 32") and meal quantity.

DOH-BAH-FRA return. Gulf Air have old airplanes but well maintained. We boarded late and got the sleeper seats. Old IFE system but choices of movie are good spacious leg room in business cabin very helpful staff and great dining.