Muscat: Over the coming year, Oman Air is looking to reduce losses as the Omani government cuts aid to the carrier by 40 million riyals in 2016, said Abdul Rahman Al Busaidi, the Chief Operating Officer at Oman Air.
Oman Air’s plans to increase its fleet to 45 aircraft as part of its network expansion programme, which was launched in the fourth quarter of 2014 and will continue into 2016.
Oman Air lost 95.866 million Omani riyal in 2014. In addition, the Government of Oman’s financial support for Oman Air was reduced from 130 million riyals in 2014 to 54 million riyals in 2015.
The airline will also increase flights in 2016, said Al Busaidi.
Oman Air will increase its flight from Muscat to Guangzhou by four weekly flights starting from next July as well opening a new rout to Mashhad in Iran. A second flight will be added to the carrier’s current daily non-stop service between Muscat and London Heathrow. Oman Air’s Muscat to Paris service will also be increased to offer daily flights throughout the week.
Oman Air also will increase its flights from Muscat to Tehran up to reach 21 weekly flights and has doubled its flight to Lucknow, Cochin and Bengaluru in India.
Oman Air is studying to open a new route, Muscat to Istanbul this year as well as increasing flight to Jeddah, Amman and Cairo.
Al Busaidi said Oman Air’s joint venture with Luxembourg-based freight specialists Cargolux will see further growth over the next 12 months, increasing both airlines’ contribution to the development of Oman as a global cargo hub.
The launch of new destinations, increased frequencies and expanded cargo operations will be supported by the arrival in 2016 of more new aircraft. Two new Boeing 787-800s will bring Oman Air’s Dreamliner strength to four aircraft and the addition of four new Boeing 737-800s will further enhance the airline’s short and medium haul capacity and support flexible network planning.
Oman Air is planning to contribute of more than 420 million riyals to the national economy in 2016.
