Oman transport: Muscat, Salalah airport passenger numbers rise

Muscat: Muscat International Airport and Salalah Airport witnessed a growth of 14.3 per cent and 38 per cent respectively in the first six months of 2017, compared to the same period in 2016, bringing the total number of passengers to 7,185,134.
According to the statistical bulletin issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the number of passengers through Muscat International Airport, including (transports and transit), increased by the end of last June 2017 to 6,505,671 passengers, compared with 5,694,194 passengers during the same period of 2016.
The number of flights amounted to 54,789 by the end of June 2017 compared to 49,641 flights during the same period of 2016, a rise of 10.4 per cent.
Statistics showed that the number of international flights through Muscat International Airport by the end of June 2017 stood at 49,243 compared with 45,232 flights during the same period in 2016, an increase of 8.9 per cent.
As more as 5,983,697 passengers travelled on board of those flights, an increase of 13.9 per cent.
The statistical bulletin also indicated that domestic flights through Muscat International Airport increased by 25.8 per cent to reach 5,546 flights by the end of last June 2017 compared to 4,409 flights during the same period in 2016, with 521,974 passengers travelling on such flights by the end of June 2017 compared to 442,784 passengers during the same period of 2016, an increase of 17.9 per cent.
The number of passengers travelling through Salalah Airport, including (transfer and transit passengers), reached 679,463 passengers at the end of June 2017 compared with 492,714 passengers during the same period of 2016. The number of flights reached 6,797 at the end of June 2017 compared to 4,409 flights during the corresponding period in 2016, an increase of 54.2 per cent.
The number of international flights through Salalah Airport stood at 2,791 compared with 1,960 flights, an increase of 42.4 per cent over the same period last year, with 278,602 passengers traveling, compared with 179,896 passengers, an increase of 54.9 per cent.
The number of domestic flights through Salalah Airport reached 4,006 by the end of last June, compared to 2,449 flights during the same period last year, an increase of 63.6 per cent, with a total of 400,861 passengers, compared with 312,818 passengers, an increase of 28.1 per cent.