Gulf Air, the national carrier of Bahrain, has agreed to reinstate another 79 workers dismissed during the recent unrest - bringing the total to 136.

The airline's board of directors gave the green light at a meeting to discuss performance, future growth, impact of rising fuel costs and increased competition.

The employees had been sacked for their unauthorised absence from work.

The 79 employees returning to the airline "met the criteria issued by a special review of the committee set up by the Labour Ministry". They will be notified officially starting next week and are expected to return before the end of the month, said a statement.

The board also discussed progress of the airline's turnaround strategy and its plan of action to make it the "airline of choice". The directors extended their full support to the management to achieve this goal.

The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company chief executive officer (CEO) Talal Alzain and attended by Dr Mustafa Al Sayed, Lloyd Cromwell Griffiths, Khalid Omar Al Rumaihi, Adel Al Maskati, Captain Ebrahim Al Gaoud and Hazem Janahi.

Gulf Air CEO Samer Majali and members of the executive management also attended. – TradeArabia News Service