Oman Air to reopen routes on demand
As the travel returns to normal worldwide in the post-covid scenario, the National airline, Oman Air, will focus on routes that will connect the country to the world, contribute to the economy, promote tourism, business travel and the Sultanate as a destination.
Abdulaziz al Raisi, Chief Executive of Oman Air, has been quoted by the Breaking Travel News portal that the severe reduction in global passenger demand caused by the pandemic and travel restrictions across the network led to a temporary suspension of some routes and limited frequency on remaining routes.
It may be noted that airlines operating out of Oman have been operating curtailed weekly services, instead of daily and double-daily services in the precovid times, mainly due to travel restrictions imposed by several countries to contain the spread of the virus.
“As vaccination rates pick up globally, we aim to increasingly reopen our routes — however, this will depend on the relaxing of travel restrictions worldwide and the gradual recovery of global demand for air travel’’, he said.
The airline, he said, will also continue to strengthen relationships with codeshare partners to offer our guests even more destinations to fly to. Finally, we plan on streamlining our fleet of aircraft by replacing and retiring older aircraft with newer aircraft offering greater fuel efficiency and fewer emissions while enhancing passenger comfort.
“Domestic tourism in Oman is an important part of our business, especially in Khasab, a popular port city on northern Oman’s breath-taking Musandam peninsula and Salalah in Oman’s southern Dhofar province, a destination renowned for its spectacular beaches and lush, green landscape during monsoon season (khareef)’’, he said.
“The Sultanate’s attractiveness as a tourist destination is clear: An enviable location between Asia, Africa and Europe puts two-thirds of the world’s population within eight hours flying time, one third within four; the Sultanate is one of the safest and most secure places in the world — not just in the region — and offers exceptional nature, climate, leisure, culture and history’’, the report quoted the CEO.
Oman Air was picked as the Middle East’s Leading Airline in Customer Experience; and Economy Class at the prominent World Travel Awards 2021, voted for by air travellers based on their own experiences. The awards were announced online this year.