Oman Air on Tuesday said that it has approached the Civil Aviation Ministry to increase its reach to Ahmedabad, Mangalore and Amritsar. The Gulf carrier, which completed its 25th year of service in India, said that by June 2019, it will begin flights from Athens to India.
Eng Abdulaziz Al Raisi, CEO, Oman Air said, “We have approached the government to give us the permission to fly more often to India and to other destinations as well. However, as per the bilateral policy, at the moment, we have reached a saturation.” Currently, the airline has flights to Oman three times a day from Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad; two times a day from Bengaluru, Lucknow, Cochin and Chennai; and daily from Jaipur and Goa.
Sunil VA, regional vice-president ISC, Oman Air, said Oman received 3.21 lakh Indian visitors in 2017, registering a year-on-year growth of over 7 per cent. The estimated growth for 2018 is 18 per cent.
Raisi said the government of Oman is constantly looking to boost tourism by stepping up investments. As an extension of this strategy, the airline is focusing on point-to-point travel and promoting Oman as a destination among potential Indian travellers.
However, volatility in fuel prices and the competition in the Indian aviation industry along with the rupee’s slide (seem to have cast a shadow over the airline’s plan.