Bahrain's national carrier Gulf Air and labour fund Tamkeen jointly welcomed its fourth batch of Bahraini female cabin crew at a grand ceremony held in Manama.

The 9-member group is the fourth one to graduate from a joint-initiative run by the airline and Tamkeen encouraging more Bahrainis, particularly females, to join the national carrier in key customer-facing positions such as flight crew by offering flexible scheduling benefits.

The duo hosted a graduation ceremony for the team at the Elite Resort & Spa which was attended by family members of the graduates besides senior officials of Gulf Air and Tamkeen.

Congratulating the new graduates, Gulf Air chief executive officer Samer Majali said, “I am pleased to see the graduation of yet another group of female Bahraini nationals joining our cabin crew division.'

'I am proud to say we have now 29 Bahraini female cabin crew at Gulf Air and more will be joining in the coming months. Since we launched this programme last year, the feedback has been positive and exceeded our expectations.'

Majali said the induction of Bahraini cabin crew underpins 'one of the key components of our new strategy of providing passengers with warm and friendly traditional Arabian hospitality on which Gulf Air’s reputation is built.'

'And who could be better at this, than our national workforce, who intrinsically understands our core values and ethos. By beginning their career with the national carrier, these Bahraini girls will be setting an example for other Bahraini women looking forward to an exciting and rewarding career,' he added.

Tamkeen’s vice president for Enterprise and Human Capital Development Dr Ahmed Abdul Ghani Al Shaikh hailed the project to induct Bahraini women into Gulf Air as a pioneering move.

“Tamkeen is proud of its association with Gulf Air, the national carrier; in this project because it represents an excellent synergy of Tamkeen’s vision of change management and new career creation for Bahrainis.”

'Tamkeen has a rich track-record of creating opportunities for Bahrainis in value added jobs and vital sectors, with a focus on supporting Bahraini women in their search for new and non-traditional careers in areas such as accounting and finance and aeronautical engineering.'

'This new career as cabin crew with the national carrier is yet another feather in our collective caps  for Tamkeen, for Gulf Air and most of all for our young female cabin crew graduates,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service