Gulf Air is the national carrier for the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Sultanate of Oman. The airline operates a fleet of 34 aircraft to 47 destinations in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and the Middle East. Gulf Air's hubs are Bahrain International Airport (BAH) and Seeb International Airport (MCT). The company's logo features a golden falcon.

The airline is not part of an airline alliance but is part of the oneworld global explorer fare. It has extensive codeshare services with other airlines and special partnerships with Jet Airways and Oman Air's Frequent Flyer Programmes.

In the late 1940s, Freddie Bosworth (a British pilot) began an air taxi service to Doha and Dhahran from Bahrain. Bosworth later expanded this service and on the 24 March 1950, he registered Gulf Aviation as a private share-holding company. Seven Avro Ansons and 3 de Havilland DH.86B 4-engine biplanes formed the fleet, but more modern aircraft were needed. Bosworth chose the de Havilland Dove but while preparing to introduce the type into service he was killed on a demonstration flight at Croydon on 9 June 1951.

From 1951 to 1971, British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) became a major shareholder in Gulf Aviation, holding a 22% stake. Gulf Aviation began services to London in April 1970 with a Vickers VC10 and, with the introduction of BOAC, saw a succession of updated aircraft entering the fleet. The turning point for Gulf Aviation came when the governments of the Kingdom of Bahrain, State of Qatar, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the Sultanate of Oman purchased BOAC's shares in Gulf Aviation. Under the Foundation Treaty signed on 1 January 1974 creating a national carrier of the four States, the airline became Gulf Air.

Gulf Air A330-200With leased L-1011 Tri-Star and Boeing 737s joining the fleet, by 1976 Gulf Air had expanded its route network to include: Amman, Amsterdam, Athens, Baghdad, Bangkok, Beirut, Cairo, Colombo, Delhi, Dhaka, Hong Kong, Jeddah, Khartoum, Larnaca, Manila, Paris, Ras Al Khaimah and Sanaa. The fleet comprised 4 Vickers VC10s, 3 BAC One-Elevens, 2 Lockheed Tri-Star 200s and 5 Boeing 737-200s. Two years later the Tri-Star fleet had doubled, replacing the VC10s, and the Boeing 737s had increased to 9, resulting in the phasing out of the One-Elevens.

The 1980s saw an increase in air travel and growth for Gulf Air. In 1981 Gulf Air became an IATA member and in the following year became the first international airline to land at Riyadh. In 1988 the Boeing 767s joined the fleet and services to Frankfurt, Istanbul, Damascus, Dar Es-Salaam, Fujairah and Nairobi were launched, with services to Shiraz and Baghdad resumed.

Gulf Air celebrated its 40th anniversary in 1990. The light blue and peach Balenciaga-designed uniform was introduced. Singapore, Sydney and Trivandrum were launched and Gulf Air became the first Arab airline to fly to Australia. Gulf Air added Johannesburg and Melbourne to its network (1992), becoming the first Arab airline to fly directly to these cities. The following year it opened up a Flight Simulator Centre in Qatar. The same year saw the introduction of services to Casablanca, Entebbe, Jakarta, Kilimanjaro, Madras, Rome, Sanaa, Zanzibar and Zurich.

In May 1994, Gulf Air received its first A340-300. Gulf Air introduced a no-smoking policy on flights to Singapore and Australia in 1998 which later extended throughout its whole network. In 1999, Gulf Air also launched three new routes in North Pakistan: Islamabad, Lahore, and Peshawar. It also took delivery of two (out of six) A330-200 aircraft and a new Balmain uniform was introduced.