Oman looks to revise service level standards & boost capacity

Sheikh Aiman Al Hosni, OMAC’s Chief Executive Officer, said the company is in talks with the government to “seek approval to operate the terminals at service level B, as opposed as A, which would boost capacity of the new Muscat International from 12 million passengers a year to 20 million and that of Salalah International from one million to two million.”
While the CEO could not give a definite date for the opening of the new Muscat International, he disclosed that the existing facility will be dedicated to general aviation and low cost carriers once the airport opens.
Sheikh Aiman said OMAC, which also oversees operations at the regional airports of Sohar, Ras Al Hadd and Ad Duqm hopes to open the Sohar facility in the middle of next year. “Sohar Airport, will have an annual capacity of 250,000 passengers and is being built within the proximity of the major commercial, industrial and economic centres of Sohar including the Port of Sohar Special Economic Zone. It will complement future plans for a major expressway and rail network which will underpin the port city`s eventual transformation into a major industrial and economic hub on the Batinah coast,” said Sheikh Aiman. “The airport will also serve as a new gateway for cargo and courier traffic in northern Oman.” Sohar Airport will have stands for two aircraft and will cater to up to 50,000 tons of cargo per annum.
Meanwhile, the CEO, said the company is expecting a 20% increase in traffic this year through Salalah International, which opened last year. “Salalah International handled just over a million passengers last year – half of those arrived during city’s Khareef monsoon season, double that of the 2014 season,” he explained.
Sheikh Aiman also said that OMAC is in close discussion with the Port of Salalah and Salalah Free Zone to develop a sea-air cargo offering. OMAC is building a new cargo terminal at Salalah International which will be operational by August this year with a capacity of 100,000 tons per annum.
Meanwhile, Salem Awad Said Al Yafaey, General Manager of Salalah Airport said the new facility is now receiving five charter flights a week from Europe and Scandinavia and is expecting further traffic boosts this year.
“Qatar Airways now operates 13 flights a week to Salalah which will increase to 21 by June,” he said. Six airlines – Qatar Airways, Flydubai, Oman Air, Rotana Jet, Air Arabia and Air India – currently operate scheduled flights into Salalah and are are expected. “We have had talks with others including Kuwait Airways, PIA, NAS of Saudi Arabia and Gulf Air and we are now on their radar,” explained Al Yafaey. “Last year Salalah’s hotel room inventory increased by 650 rooms and with another two hotels due to open, the destination’s tourism potential increases.”