Gulf Air bets on Malpensa: fifth-freedom flights to Nice and Geneva

A duplicate of fifth-freedom flights arrives in Italy, connecting Milan Malpensa with Nice and Geneva. The operation is signed Gulf Air, the national airline of the Kingdom of Bahrain, resuming one of the routes already in vogue in the pre-Covid period (Milan-Nice) and allowing the Italy-France-Bahrain rotation to fly only on one of these segments.

The Malpensa-Geneva route, on the other hand, is a newly launched innovation that thus doubles Gulf Air's fitth freedom flights from the Lombardy airport.

Flights over France

The flight to Nice was reinstated on May 21 and will run through the summer - through Sept. 29 - with direct flights every Thursday and Sunday operated with the Middle Eastern carrier's A321neo outfitted with two classes: Falcon Gold (16 seats) and 150 seats in Economy

Flights on this route operated in fifth freedom are priced on a fixed basis: a ticket in Economy costs from the 100 euros in light fare to 200 euros with Flex. In Business, on the other hand, it ranges from 498 euros with Smart fare to the 1,060 euros with the Flex. The flight from Milan takes off at 7:55 a.m. with landing in France at 9:00 a.m.; while in Nice it leaves at 9:50 a.m. with arrival in Lombardy at 10:55 a.m.

Gulf Air flies directly from Milan Malpensa to Bahrain operating. seven flights per week which will also be joined by three more new evening frequencies from July 2, 2024. The airline also operates direct flights from Rome Fiumicino three times a week (Monday, Thursday and Saturday).

Fifth freedom flight over Switzerland

From Milan Malpensa a Geneva, Switzerland, two weekly flights are planned, June 4 to September 27, every Tuesday and Friday, thus on alternate days to the passage over Nice. This ensures Gulf Air an almost daily presence at Malpensa by serving both Bahrain and two top destinations beyond the Alps.

Flights take off from Milan at 7:45 a.m. with arrival in Switzerland at 8:40 a.m. From Geneva, however, they depart at 9:40 a.m. with landing in Malpensa at 10:45 a.m.

Flights on this route are priced within a similar range to those in Nice: Economy tickets cost from the 110 euros in light fare to 260 euros with Flex. In Business, on the other hand, it ranges from 498 euros with Smart fare to the 1,100 euros with Flex. Again Gulf Air uses flights to Geneva stopping at Malpensa with the possibility of also boarding passengers using only the Milan-Geneva route. The Gulf Air website does not specify the aircraft that will operate this new route, but most likely it should again be the A3321neo.

To date, Gulf Air is not participating in any international alliance, but rumors of its upcoming membership in Star Alliance.

Finally, the Middle Eastern airline offers convenient connections from Bahrain International Airport to Asia, India, and the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia Through the company's global network.

For example, you can fly from Milan Malpensa and Rome via Bahrain to: Maldives, Manila, Bangkok, Singapore, Colombo, New Delhi, Mumbai, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Muscat. In addition, Gulf Air offers free Bahrain Stopover to its passengers transiting through the Kingdom's capital airport.

What are fifth freedom flights

The regime of fifth freedom, in Italian fifth freedom, is the right to fly between the airline's home country to a second country, and from that country to a third. The intermediate stage (in this case Malpensa) is not just a technical stopover, but an airport that can accommodate paying passengers who choose it as a destination and/or departure base.

The "five freedoms of the air" originated in the middle of the last century when trade treaties regulating air transportation began to be established. The first two freedoms are. related to transit (the right to fly over a third country and the right to land for technical and non-commercial reasons).

The third and fourth freedoms enshrine a company's ability to operate a commercial link for the transportation of people and goods. These were also joined by new regulations, such as the agreement of Open Skies which regulates routes between Europe and the U.S. and enshrines the freedom of European and American companies to operate as many routes as they wish.

The fifth freedom flights from Italy

Milan is the Italian queen of fifth-freedom flights because this mode, to date, is used only at the Lombard airport. In addition to Gulf Air, in fact, there is Emirates, which operates the historic Malpensa-New York JFK with the A380. On this route, after a winter replacement that saw the 777 operate Dubai-Milan-New York, the airline's flagship giant of the skies has been back on track since February.

Added to this are Ethiopian Airlines which operates from Zurich to Milan and Singapore Airlines which also flies from Malpensa to Barcelona, Spain and is one of the fifth freedom flights most used by Italian travelers.

The latter flight was activated post Covid, a way for the Asian airline to reactivate its connection to Barcelona. As of January 2022, in fact A350s on the way from Singapore, after a technical stopover, they set off again toward Catalonia.

Last year, the company reactivated direct, nonstop connections between Barcelona and the Changi Airport, but three frequencies continue to be operated with passage via Malpensa. The flight is operated on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays with return on the same days to Milan before departing back to Singapore.

The opportunity, finally, is to fly a wide-body, twin-aisle aircraft with more comfortable seats and Singapore Airlines' high-end services even if only to fly to Barcelona on an A350-900 configured in three classesi (Business, Premium Economy and Economy).

Also the flight time from Malpensa to Zurich on board Ethiopian Airlines is usable with dual-aisle aircraft (from the Boeing 787-8 or -9 to the Boeing 777-200LR to the Airbus A350-900).

Finally, fifth freedom flights are. An excellent opportunity for those who want to discover a new company or fly on a particular plane, and they also have an important economic implication because they usually They generate competition by lowering prices.

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