Muscat: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has started preparing the National Aviation Strategy 2040, which aims to integrate all sectors, especially the tourism and logistics sectors, and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2024.
Eng Naif bin Ali al Abri, Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), said that this strategy will enhance the Sultanate of Oman’s aviation as a crossing point between East and West. He said there is a preference for using the Omani airspace and the total number of aircraft flying over the Sultanate is 1,600 aircraft.
He added that the strategy will focus on air freight capabilities at Salalah Airport, which has promising opportunities, and the CAA is working in cooperation with its partners to promote and attract air carriers to the airport in freight, or at Muscat International Airport, which has witnessed good growth.
On the Musandam Airport project, he said that the project is currently in the final stages of appointing a consultant to prepare detailed designs and technical studies for the proposed site and these steps will be completed during the next year.
The proposed National Aviation Strategy 2040 aims to “meet the current and future” growth needs of the civil aviation sector in Oman, according to the Authority. To this end, it has invited qualified international consultants to bid for its contract to provide advisory services in the delivery of a roughly 20-year strategy to drive the growth of this key sector. Importantly, the new blueprint will seek to build on the existing National Aviation Strategy 2030, which was first unveiled three years ago in early 2020 just as the coronavirus pandemic began its devastating sweep across the globe.
That ambitious plan envisioned a dominant role for the aviation sector as a key pillar of economic growth. The existing 2030 Strategy enshrines a commitment to, among other goals, the development of an effective organisational framework that contributes to supporting and developing the aviation sector, strengthening the Omani economy, creating job opportunities, building manpower and strengthening stakeholder capabilities and expertise. Importantly, the 2030 Strategy aims to enable Oman’s aviation sector to compete on a global level with the goal of securing a bigger share of the international aviation market.
Furthermore, the Strategy targets the development of an air logistics sector through the formulation of a comprehensive air freight strategy that is intended to maintain air freight market share and support national industries in global markets. In addition, a logistics services regional centre is proposed to be established for international companies, which will increase freight traffic through Oman’s airports through a number of initiatives including marketing the sector, allocating free zones to airport cities, achieving customs efficiency, and growing the availability of marine-air links. Among the major projects envisioned for implementation as part of the National Aviation Strategy 2030 is a new Airport City at Muscat International Airport.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
