Gulf Air

1 · POSITION

Gulf Air decided to carry one premium cabin instead of two. Trade reporting dated 18 February 2010 records the airline replacing long-haul First Class with a single premium cabin named Falcon Gold, to be launched on 1 March at Business Class fares. The chief executive of the day, Samer Majali, set the change within a plan for a consistent experience across the fleet. His commercial director said fully flat Sleeper Seats were then on about 80 per cent of the widebody fleet. [1]

2 · THE SUITE AND ITS PANEL

The Boeing 787 business cabin was developed by the London consultancy tangerine, working from the Apex Suite. Raised privacy panels divide the cabin into more private, intimate zones; the designers set them as high as possible while meeting the line-of-sight rules that let crew see the cabin. Twenty-six suites were fitted. The aircraft was reported as beginning service between Bahrain and London on 15 June 2018. [2, 3]

3 · A CABIN DRESSED FROM BAHRAIN

The suites are defined by a sweeping almond-gold trim which the studio relates to a falcon’s wing tip. The privacy panels carry a three-dimensional sculpted surface drawn from the geometric forms of Bahraini architecture, and that pattern returns in upholstery and lining. Brown leather, described as evocative of a falconry glove, is used on the headrests. Cabin lighting is said to cast shadows across the textured surface. [2, 3]

4 · THE ROOM BEFORE THE FLIGHT

A rebuilt Falcon Gold Lounge at Bahrain International Airport was reported in May 2012. The room spanned 1,720 square feet and was built to serve up to 200 people. It held seven private sleeping rooms, a cigar lounge and shower rooms, with a self-service buffet area and an Italian coffee corner. A lounge that offers sleeping rooms treats the wait as part of the journey rather than as an interval before it. [4]

5 · ⚑ CANDOUR

⚑ The airline’s own site could not be read for this entry, so every statement here rests on trade and design press and on the designers’ own project page. The 2010 plan for a new flat bed by the end of 2011 is an intention recorded at that date, not a delivery established here. The 26 suites and the panels belong to the Boeing 787 and to no other type. The 2012 lounge figures predate Bahrain’s later terminal and are not offered as current. [1–4]