Dubai - MENA Herald: Increased frequency by Middle East carriers – including Oman Air and more recently, the launch of budget airline carrier Salam Air – to Oman is expected to significantly boost leisure and business travel to the Sultanate in 2017.
Currently, the new launched Salam Air connects Muscat and Salalah to Dubai, Jeddah and Medina and the airline aims to cater to the growing air traffic demand which is expected to grow by 40 per cent by 2019.
Meanwhile, the national carrier Oman Air launched operations to Guangzhou, Najaf in Iraq and Mashad in Iran. The national airline added also daily frequency to London Heathrow and will launch a daily service to Manchester on 1st May.
According to industry estimates, the number of passengers in Muscat International Airport exceeded 12 million passengers in 2016 and Salalah International Airport also exceeded the 1.2 million passenger mark resulting in increase in both domestic and international travel.
Salim Al Mamari, Director General of Tourism Promotion, Ministry of Tourism, Oman said: “We are delighted that Oman continues to receive a growing number of visitors looking for experiential holidays and we support our partner airlines who share our vision of attracting high yield tourists to the Sultanate. To cater to this growing demand of discerning travelers, we are pleased that the new Muscat International Airport will be fully equipped to handle 36 million passengers when all phases of development are complete. The new terminal will feature 118 check-in counters and 87 immigration counters, 40 gates and shops and restaurants.”
As a country Oman has much to offer, from world class hotels and resorts; historic forts including 4 UNESCO world heritage sites; stunning mountain scenery that is easily accessible by road; 3000km of unspoiled coastline; fabulous watersports including scuba diving, snorkeling, sailing and kite surfing and dolphin and turtle watching.
Increased airline connectivity from the key Middle East and European markets is now making the country more accessible than ever before and according to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the passengers at Muscat International Airport soared up to 16.6 per cent in 2016
“There is no doubt that travel in the Middle East is booming and the Arabian Travel Market is a very competitive regional platform for us to promote the new and exciting developments in the tourism industry in Oman. The Sultanate attracted over three million visitors in 2016 from across the Middle East, Europe and beyond. We now want to ensure that we attract repeat visitors who would like to explore parts of the country they have not visited before.
“We are well positioned to benefit from growing international tourism trends such as- adventure tourism and creating truly memorable experiences for our visitors from cultural, environmental, natural and family perspectives,” Al Mamari concluded.