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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Muscat airport among fastest growing in ME

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By Vinod Nair — MUSCAT: March 26 - Muscat International Airport is leading in terms of passenger traffic growth in the Middle East, as per the statistics available for January from Airports International Council (ACI). Muscat was leading over its rivals with a growth rate of 14.7 per cent, to be followed by Doha with 14 per cent and Dubai at 9.7 per cent, compared with the same period last year.


It is reported that over 48 airlines are flying from Muscat and Salalah airports to more than 69 destinations in 32 countries around the world.


Among the rankings for top airports in Asia (in the category for five to 15 million passengers per year), Muscat was placed at the second position below India’s Hyderabad airport with a growth rate of 26.2 per cent and followed by Osaka Itami airport with 2.6 per cent.


ACI expects international passenger traffic to double to 14 billion by 2029, and while it may be noted that the new Muscat airport, when complete, will be able to handle 20 million passengers per year against the current capacity of 12 million passengers.


Saeed Khamis al Zadjali of Oman Airport Management Committee (OAMC) recently, said, “We are moving to an airport which would be six times bigger than the current one. We will embark on major operations, considering our current growth rate 15 per cent.”


According to National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the number of international flights at Muscat International Airport logged a 10.6 per cent increase by the end of February this year, compared with the same period last year.


During the period, there were 8,141 landings and an equal number of take-offs, as against 7,361 landings and 7,358 take-offs in the first two months of 2016. Further, there has been a 15.5 per cent increase in the number of passengers on international flights to and from Muscat International Airport, with their numbers rising to 2.04 million this year, compared with 1.77 million recorded last year.


The total number of flights at the Muscat airport (including international and domestic) increased by 10.1 per cent to 17,853, while the number of passengers rose by 15.5 per cent to over 2.22 million during the first two months of the current year, compared with figures for the same period of 2016.


The highest number of flights at Muscat airport operated to and from India with 67,258 departures and 76,427 arrivals. Bangladesh came second with 17,844 departures to and 22758 landings from Bangladesh.


Departures to Pakistan stood at 16,743, while landings from the country numbered 20,146.


He the economic growth globally is shifting towards the east and Oman is strategically located as most destinations in Asia are at a distance of eight hours from Muscat.


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