Passenger traffic continues to grow

“Oman Air is not in favour of a two terminal concept.

“Oman is blessed with a fantastic new passenger terminal to be opened, making a one terminal concept a huge advantage compared to airports with several terminals.

“Exploiting two terminals is also more costly,” he explained.

Riyaz Kuttery, Chief Operating Officer of Mezoon Travel said: “Tourists in Oman continue to grow each year. Unfortunately, the current airport may not be able to accommodate the increase over time and therein lies the importance of this new airport.”

The new terminal will be able to handle 12 million passengers per year, with plans to increase the annual passenger load to 48 million passengers per year, to be carried out in a series of phased construction projects.

It will have 118 check-in counters for international and domestic flights, along with 82 immigration counters.

There will also be areas set aside for duty free purchases, retail stores, restaurants and cafés. Passengers will be able to take advantage of 40 gates for both departing and arriving flights, along with 29 waiting lounges.

16 additional waiting lounges have been built for those passen- gers being transported to aircraft by bus. Passengers will also experience faster boarding of aircraft, as air bridges leading to the aircraft from the gates splits into two, with one leading to first and business class, while the other is for the use of economy passengers, to assure boarding and disembarking is fast and efficient.

There are to be 10 belts in the baggage claim area, with eight of them for international flights and two for domestic passengers.

While waiting for friends or family members, the new arrival area will allow public access to restaurants, cafés and retail stores, as well as offer a top-down view of passengers claiming their bags.

The 68,000 square metre fivelevel parking area in the north of the airport will hold 1,100 vehicles, while another 67,000 square meter parking area will accommodate some 1,200 vehicles.

Wasim Zaidi, General Manager - Gulf Sales, Jet Airways, said: “The new infrastructure will boost airport capacity and will grow passenger numbers and more importantly, it will provide superior service to guests, coupled with speed and efficiency. “

He also said: “We are truly excited at the prospect of an enhanced quality experience at Muscat.”