Oman Air, the national carrier of the Sultanate of Oman has keen focus on the India market o increase destinations and to introduce larger fleet. Currently, the Airlines is speculating destinations for geographical expansion and also in discussion with the Indian government to increase the carrying capacity from India.
Speaking about the Indian market, Muhannad Mohammad, Assistant Marketing Manager, Oman Air said, “Without any doubt, India is one of the most important markets for Oman Air, as of now we are flying to 11 destinations in India. Indian market is one of the leading markets in Oman for both leisure travellers and trade. We have a lot of trade between Muscat and different destinations in India.
He further added, “Right now we are looking to increase stations in India. Besides we are also looking to increase the number of flights to India. There are a lot of stations right now under study and once we obtain the necessary approvals, we will surely introduce.”
Last year, the airline had announced in a statement that it is all set to increase flight frequencies to four of its key destinations in India, increasing its operations to a total of 126 flights per week. The airline also said that flights from Muscat to Bangalore and Kochi will increase from daily to double-daily and will operate 11 flights weekly to Lucknow and 10 flights to Jaipur.
He further added, “India has always been an excellent market for us. We have seen a significant growth in the Indian market after the increase in frequency. Always there is an increase in passengers for all our operational destinations. There is a lot of development and improvement in India and always our flights have enjoyed a healthy load factor.”
Speaking about the global expansion plans, Mohammad added, “We are adding Mashhad in Iran and we will also operate to Guangzhou in china by the end of this year. Oman Air is known as one of the best in terms of its service. We have also introduced our Boeing-787 Aircrafts which provides more facilities for passengers. Recently we have also won the best lounge in the Middle- East, which is a big milestone for us.”
When asked about plans to deploy B-787 for the India routes he said, “Oman Air is also looking to increase fleets so that we can fly to more destinations. Recently two B-787 joined us. Another B-737 will join our fleet soon which can support our routes to India. As of now due to the traffic agreement between India and Oman we don’t have the passenger capacity to deploy a Boeing-787 for India market. As of now we operate B-737 in India. But if we get more traffic rights we will surely deploy the larger B-787 fleet for India route. In certain destinations closer to India we are already using the larger B-787 aircrafts as we have open air agreement with them.”
