Muscat: The budget airline, SalamAir, will launch five new stations in the second half of this month, which include some of the key tourist destinations.
The CEO of SalamAir said the airline will start, on June 15, its first direct three flights per week flights to Bursa in Turkey, the first international company to operate its direct flights to the city.
He said the company will operate direct flights to the city of Phuket in Thailand and Baku in the Republic of Azerbaijan, and there is an intention to operate direct flights to Prague in the Czech Republic and the Chinese city of Taishan in the winter schedule from October.
During the summer, SalamAir will operate direct flights from Suhar Airport to Salalah, Shiraz, and Trabzon. It also started operating direct flights from Salalah Airport to the Indian city of Calicut. Consultations were held with the competent authorities to accommodate larger numbers of passengers through Suhar Airport.
The company will receive two new planes, bringing the number of the company's fleet to ten aircraft.
Captain Mohamed Ahmed, the CEO said that the company had passed the pre-Covid 19 level traffic and it has been was able to transport 1, 2 million passengers in 2021, and it is expected to transport about 2 million passengers in 2022.
The company will increase its flights to Salalah Airport to four daily flights from Muscat International Airport, with the possibility of increasing them in the event that there is a large turnout of travelers wishing to go to the governorate. It will also operate 5 flights per week from Sohar Airport to Salalah.
He added that with the inauguration of these stations, the number of stations operated by SalamAir will reach 32 this summer, explaining that the occupancy rate in the company during the current year has reached 71 percent, as the company's fleet consists of six Airbus 320neo aircraft and two Airbus 321 aircraft.
SalamAir said the on-time performance has reached 86 percent as the new aircraft played a major role in the commitment to time.
The CEO said that the Trabzon station, which was very popular with Omani passengers, has been returned, with an occupancy rate of 99 percent, which necessitated an increase in the number of flights from two flights per week to seven, explaining that the company is currently studying a number of new contracts, including code sharing with airlines operating in the region to cover the increasing demand for these stations.
He said the Omanization rate has reached 65 percent, and a large group of Omanis are under training in training programs to occupy important positions in the company.
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