Monday 16 / September / 2024
Muscat: Oman Airports is making efforts to attract more international airlines for boosting passenger traffic at Muscat International Airport and other airports in the Sultanate of Oman.
Sheikh Ayman bin Ahmed Al Hosni, CEO of Oman Airports, confirmed that work is underway to search for new markets and evaluate the available opportunities to determine the destinations to which direct flights can be launched through the national carrier and other airlines.
He explained that the company was able to attract six international airlines to Muscat International Airport during 2024, including 4 companies that have started operating their flights to the airport and two companies that will operate their flights during the coming period of this year.
He said that the company had attracted five new airlines in 2023, including 2 from Europe and 3 from the rest of the world, noting that there are direct flights from the European markets to the Sultanate of Oman and that the "transit" market is currently being searched for, which allows tourists coming from the European market to go to Asia and vice versa, especially since this market is receiving great and growing interest and competition in the region.
He explained that as a result of the efforts made by the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism in promoting and marketing tourism to the Sultanate of Oman, it is expected that the number of tourists coming from Europe through the airports of the Sultanate of Oman by the end of 2024 will exceed 500,000, compared to the number of European tourists in 2023, which reached nearly 500,000 tourists.
The CEO of Oman Airports added that the company is cooperating with the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism and tourism companies in the Sultanate of Oman and abroad with the aim of attracting new markets in the coming period.
He indicated that the number of airlines operating at Muscat International Airport reached 36 connecting the Sultanate of Oman with more than 80 regional and international destinations.
