The number of visitors to Salalah during Khareef 2022 was 813,000 visitors, an increase of 6 per cent from 767,000 in 2021, according to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
The exorbitant airfares on the Salalah-Muscat sector have been always a point of contention among passengers, especially those travelling with families during the peak Khareef months.
These airfares force visitors to Salalah to take to the road and the long drive on the 1,000-km stretch which has turned out to be fatal for some motorists and their families. Overspeeding, fatigue, and low visibility during rains are often cited as the main reasons for these unfortunate incidents.
Oman Airports recently said it will implement the Royal Directives of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik on providing direct subsidies on fuel prices at Salalah Airport, equivalent to the fuel prices at Muscat International Airport, with immediate effect.
A travel company executive said, “Travelling to Salalah by air is a costly affair for families during Khareef, and that forces passengers to travel by road. One of the main reasons for high fares seems to be the lack of competition and low capacity. With these new decisions, airlines will be encouraged to add more services to the sector while foreign airlines will be able to get more tourists from abroad.”
Directives from His Majesty the Sultan were aimed at facilitating tourism by increasing the number of flights to and from Dhofar Governorate by airlines as competition will lower ticket prices for citizens and residents and all categories of travellers to the governorate.
The number of domestic flights to Dhofar Governorate was 16,114, while the number of international flights was 149,590. Oman Air will operate eight daily flights between Muscat and Salalah, starting from June 15 until September 15.
The airline will further augment its services by increasing the daily flight count to 12 on selected days. Oman Air has announced a significant reduction in ticket prices for Economy Class travel between Muscat and Salalah for Omanis.
The revised ticket prices will be set at an attractive rate of RO 54 return. Omanis constituted 69 per cent of the total number of visitors (562,995), while GCC countries constituted 161,260 in 2022. Money spent by visitors to Salalah during Khareef 2022 was RO 86 million, an increase of 32 per cent compared to 2019 when the total spending was RO 76 million, of which 32 per cent of the total expenditure was for housing.
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