BIAS2016: Bahrain and UK celebrate shared aviation heritage
Above:
The first Concorde flight leaves London for Bahrain - arriving at Muharraq at 15:20 local time 40 years ago today.
The 40th anniversary of that flight from London will be the highlight of events at the Bahrain International Airshow (BIAS) celebrating the aviation heritage shared by Bahrain and the UK. The first commercial flight of the Anglo-French supersonic airliner put Bahrain in the global spotlight as the delta-winged aircraft taxied in at Muharraq, with the eyes of the world’s press upon it.
However, that event was just one of a long line of aviation links between the two countries, which are being celebrated as part of the bicentenary of the relationship between the UK and Bahrain.
Hussain Al Shuail, under-secretary for civil aviation at Bahrain’s Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications, spoke yesterday of the “very robust relationship” between the two nations.
Speaking at the BAE Systems stand at the BIAS celebrating those links, he noted that the arrival of Concorde was just one episode in that relationship, pointing out the Spitfire XIX bought by Bahraini donations during World War II, which carried the island’s name proudly under its cockpit.
Above:
Hussain Al Shuail, under-secretary for civil aviation at Bahrain’s Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications, and British ambassador to Bahrain, Simon Martin, mark the 40th anniversary of Concorde’s first flight to Bahrain.
The aircraft is at the show and will stay in Bahrain for much of the year, to be shown at various locations around the island.
Bahrain was also an important staging post through the 1930s for Imperial Airways, a predecessor of BA, which operated flights between the UK and India, while a British pilot set up the Gulf Aviation Company, the forerunner of Gulf Air, in 1950.
Also, the Royal Bahrain Air Force today operates the BAE Systems’ Hawk advanced jet trainer.
Britain’s Ambassador to Bahrain, Simon Martin, added that it was a “wonderful time” to be the UK’s representative to the kingdom as the bicentenary was marked. The aviation links between the two nations, established in the past, would continue into the future, he said.