Gulf Air (GF, Bahrain International) and Texel Air (XLR, Bahrain International), a Bahrain-based cargo carrier and maintenance repair organisation (MRO), have agreed to explore cooperation on charter agreements, as well as engineering and maintenance activities.
In a joint statement on April 4, 2022, the companies said a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed last month by Gulf Air Acting Chief Executive Officer Waleed AlAlawi and John Chisholm, Chairman of Chisholm Enterprises, the parent company of Texel Air.
"We are always looking to discover ways to enhance our commercial partnerships and to get involved in every related sector of the aviation industry," commented AlAlawi.
Chisholm said the partnership came at a time of "remarkable developments in the aviation industry". "This sees partners in the region join together to enhance business relationships and in turn provide better services and offerings of real benefit to our customers," he added.
Gulf Air, the national carrier of Bahrain, operates a mixed fleet of Boeing and Airbus aircraft, including seven B787-9s with five more of the type on order; plus eleven A320-200s; six A320-200Ns with six more on order; six A321-200s; four A321-200NXs (four more on order), and nine A321-200NX(LR)s due for delivery, according to the ch-aviation fleets module.
Established in 2013, Texel Air fills a niche for specialised ad-hoc third party cargo requirements from its base at Bahrain International. Its small fleet comprises one B737-300(F), two B737-700(FC)s, and one B737-800(BCF), ch-aviation data reveals. It holds a Bahraini Air Operators Certificate (AOC) and line maintenance approval from the Bahrain civil aviation regulator. Its MRO facilities support airframe (line and base) for Airbus A300-B4, A300-600, A320, A330, and Boeing B737, B747, B757, and B767 aircraft.
