Bahrain’s Gulf Air has opened the commercials bids for the inflight connectivity services and entertainment service for its new air fleet.

Three firms submitted bids for the connectivity contract:

• Thales Avionics: $30m
• Panasonic Avionics: $47.2m
• GoGo: Option 1 ($4.2m); Option 2 ($13.2m); Option 3 ($21m)

Both Thales and Panasonic also submitted an offer for the inflight entertainment service, in addition to US’ Zodiac Inflight Innovations. The offers are:

• Zodiac Inflight Innovations: $29.9m
• Thales Avionics: Option 1 ($65.7m); Option 2 ($85.9m)
• Panasonic Avionics: $150.5m

Gulf Air has recently restructured its $7.6bn aircraft order with France’s Airbus and the US’ Boeing, with the first deliveries expected in the second quarter of 2018. The orders are for 16 wide-body, two-aisle Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and 29 narrow-body, single-aisle Airbus A320 and A32 Neos.

Bahrain’s national carrier has been implementing a programme to reduce losses, with 85 per cent loss reduction reported since 2012.

Bahrain’s Transport Minister Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed said in December 2015 that the government will continue to invest in the airline to help it achieve profitability.