The civil aviation sector has achieved satisfactory recovery rates at all airports of the Sultanate of Oman in 2022 after the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This was revealed by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Monday during its media briefing. It also revealed the executive position of the CAA strategic plans, the achievements during 2022, and its plan for 2023.
The aviation sector witnessed a noticeable increase in terms of passenger traffic, freight traffic, and the number of inbound and outbound flights compared to 2021, Eng Nayef bin Ali al Abri, CAA Chairman, said.
He referred to the increase in flight traffic through Muscat International Airport during 2022 by 87 per cent, as the number of flights reached 76,392. The number of passengers also increased by 129 per cent to stand at more than 8,602,000, and freight traffic rose by 34 per cent.
Al Abri said that the total revenues of the CAA during 2022 stood at RO 72,043,292 as it witnessed an increase of RO 26,430,818 comprising 58 per cent. It also witnessed an increase in the expense rate, which stood at about RO 221,000, comprising 1 per cent compared to 2021.
He elaborated that Sohar Airport witnessed an increase in air traffic during 2022 by 28 per cent, and an increase in the number of passengers by 122 per cent. Duqm Airport witnessed an increase as well in the number of passengers by 37 per cent, while aircraft traffic decreased by 21 per cent.
Al Abri said that there has been an increase in the number of open skies agreements over 2022, reaching 66 agreements with 122 countries. The total number of flight permits reached 10,962.
CAA chairman further said that among the authority’s achievements during 2022 were the adoption of the national plan for aviation safety, the project to install a hydrogen generator, the establishment of a new automatic meteorological station in the Wilayat of Barka, and identifying tsunami risk areas for the cell broadcast system.
Al Abri pointed out that the total air traffic in Oman during 2022 reached 470,809 flights, and the total number of aircraft crossing the Oman’s airspace reached 386,391 flights.
He added that the renewed aircraft in Oman during 2022 stood at 83 airplanes, the newly registered aircraft 11, and 83 licenses issued for activities of unmanned aircraft.
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