Muscat, Aug 8 - Air fares to the popular summer destination of Salalah are no longer low-priced. As per details available on SalamAir website, fares on the budget airline are in the range of RO 25.3 and RO 46. Fares on Oman Air, the full-service airline, are in the range of RO 36 and RO 63 for different classes. While the bus fares are reasonable, people are concerned about the frequent traffic accidents on the main routes leading to Salalah from Muscat and other parts of Oman as well as the neighbouring countries. “I would like to drive with the family to Salalah, but reports about frequent road accidents make me think twice before taking the road. Flights exceed our budget expectations,” said Pradeep Kumar, a resident of Muscat who plans to visit Dhofar in the coming days.
“Before the launch of the budget airline, the average fares to Salalah on Oman Air were around RO 39 per trip, which came down to RO 15-RO 20 with the arrival of SalamAir. Now, fares are back to those levels,” said Khamis al Balushi, who plans to travel by road. According to the travel operators, with people seeing air travel as a safer option, they avoid the road due to reports of fatal road accidents. “This has led to an increase in demand for air travel to Salalah. Hence, fares have shot up. Also the airlines have realised the RO 15-25 slab for Salalah not practical due to high operation costs,” said an official of an Oman-based airline.
Vinod Nair
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