Bahrain’s Gulf Air signs codeshare partnership with Dubai's Emirates

The MoU, signed at Dubai Airshow, marks the beginning of closer ties between the two airlines 

Bahrain’s Gulf Air and Dubai’s Emirates have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop deeper commercial cooperation between the airlines.

The MoU will set the framework to establish a potential codeshare agreement, extending reciprocal loyalty benefits on Gulf Air’s Falconflyer and Emirates’ Skywards. Discussions are also underway to initiate cargo cooperation.

The MoU was signed by Gulf Air’s acting CEO, Captain Waleed AlAlawi and Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline, and the signing ceremony was attended by members of each airline’s executive management teams.

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Captain AlAlawi commented: “This will be a remarkable partnership between one of the first airlines in the Gulf region and one of the biggest carriers in the world. We’re proud to explore opportunities with Emirates to expand our reach and, at the same time, extend our boutique services to Emirates’ passengers when flying on our network. Gulf Air and Emirates operate multiple flights between Bahrain and Dubai and this agreement will provide passengers with more choices beyond our hubs.”

Sir Tim Clark added: “We are pleased to partner with Gulf Air on developing this codeshare agreement, which will give customers significantly enhanced choices, convenient schedules and flexibility to connect between Dubai and Bahrain, and beyond, to cities in our extensive long-haul network. 

"We believe that our new partnership will bring real benefits to our customers and business. Today’s agreement is a positive step in our cooperation, and we’re on the way to further strengthening our relationship in the future.”

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Once the codeshare is activated, customers will be able to book their travel with both airlines on emirates.com and gulfair.com, and through both online travel agencies and local travel agents. 

Customers travelling on Emirates and Gulf Air operated flights can book single-ticket travel with competitive fares, and one-stop baggage check-in to their final destinations. 

Emirates will initially place its 'EK' marketed code on Gulf Air operated flights between Bahrain and Dubai, and reciprocally, Gulf Air will add its 'GF' marketed code to Emirates routes.

For more information, visit www.emirates.com and www.gulfair.com