Muscat - Oman Airports on Saturday celebrated the fifth anniversary of the opening of Muscat International Airport, and the eighth anniversary of the opening of Salalah Airport, which constitute two gateways to success for tourism and travel in the Sultanate of Oman.
Since its opening on November 11, 2018, Muscat International Airport has jumped about 52 places in the list of the best airports in the world in the field of services and passenger satisfaction, becoming the 11th place in the world, competing with several international airports within its capacity category of 15-25 million passengers regionally and internationally.
It also won a series of international awards that confirm its leadership in the aviation and travel sector, and was crowned with the award for the Best New Pioneering Airport for the year 2018, during the 25th edition of the World Travel Awards in Lisbon, Portugal.
Muscat International Airport played a positive role during the period of the Corona pandemic, as it was the first airport in the Middle East to obtain a health accreditation certificate for travel and safety procedures during the period of the global pandemic Covid-19, stressing the endeavor of those in charge of it to provide everything that would prepare the airport to be a safe crossing to and from the Sultanate of Oman during that period.
Immediately after the end of the pandemic, efforts continued to be crowned with many awards, the most recent of which was the best airport in the quality of airport service by the International Airports Council in the category of airports with a capacity between 15 - 25 million passengers, and the award for the best airport employees in the Middle East, based on the classification of the
Skytrax.
The award for the best airport in the quality of airport service by the International Airports Council, the award for the most dedicated airport staff in serving passengers in the Middle East, the award for the easiest travel procedures in the Middle East, and the award for the cleanest airport in the Middle East.
Muscat International Airport has become the first airport in the Middle East to provide global educational roaming service, to provide an opportunity for students, researchers and academics to complete their tasks at Muscat International Airport via the academic Internet.
To encourage small and medium enterprises, Oman Airports announced the availability of sales outlets for small and medium enterprises at Muscat International Airport, to push these enterprises to provide multiple services in the airport environment, in order to strengthen the partnership to provide spaces to support emerging companies and entrepreneurs that carry a smart and advanced approach. Such as business centers that keep pace with the aspirations of owners of emerging companies based on technology.
Terminal
The total area of the passenger terminal at Muscat International Airport is estimated at approximately 580,000 square metres. It consists of three wings (3 levels for each wing) and the central area (5 levels) that connects the three wings.
The building includes 72 desks for clearing travel procedures for airline companies and 24 desks for clearing travel procedures for business class.
It also includes two gates designated for large aircraft such as A380 aircraft connected to boarding bridges and 10 lines for baggage claim belts, eight for international flights and two for domestic flights, with a capacity of 500,000. 5,200 bags per hour, 11 km long, and provides special services for handling private aircraft.
The passenger terminal contains 40 air bridges to transport passengers to and from aircraft through 29 waiting lounges and 16 additional waiting lounges to transport passengers to and from aircraft via buses when necessary, in addition to aircraft parking with a capacity of 59 spaces.
Salalah International Airport
While Salalah Airport in the Dhofar Governorate is one of the few airports in the world that has been classified as five-star from 2019 until the current year in the classification of Skytrax, which specializes in the category of airports with less than two million passengers, in sixth place globally in its category, and it advanced in the third quarter of This year to fourth place.
Salalah Airport is an integral part of the strategic work matrix of “Oman Vision 2024”. |
In addition to being a modern architectural icon, it links represents the Dhofar Governorate and the rest of the governorates of the Sultanate of Oman and is Oman's second gateway to the world.
Since its opening in November 2015 until today, the airport has won a number of international and regional awards, including obtaining the carbon accreditation certificate from the Airports Council International, with an upgrade to the third level, in May 2023.
Last March, it also received a five-star rating for the fifth year from the International Airport Council. Skytrax is in the World Airports Classification for the year 2023, in recognition of the high and distinguished level and efforts made to enhance performance and as a result of its constant endeavors to achieve the highest levels of operational excellence.
Salalah Airport was also crowned with four awards: the Best Airport Award in the Two Million Passengers category in the Middle East, the Most Dedicated Airport Staff Award in Serving Passengers in the Middle East, the Easiest Travel Procedures Award in the Middle East, and the Cleanest Airport in the Middle East Award within the International Airport Service Quality Awards. For the year 2022.
In September 2022, Salalah Airport also won the award for the best airport in the Middle East in terms of quality of services, and the third place award for the best airports in the Middle East in terms of safety measures during the “Covid-19” pandemic, between the years 2020 - 2022.
Salalah Airport recorded an increase in air traffic during the Khareef Dhofar season 2023, by 29 percent in total air traffic and 34.4 percent in the number of passengers. Air traffic at the airport grew during the past months of July and August to reach about 3,168 flights, compared to 2,455 flights in the same period last year.
On September 7, 2023, Salalah Airport was also able to connect sea/air freight operations between Salalah Airport and the Port of Salalah, one of the largest sea ports in the Middle East, to provide since that date its first logistical support of its kind in the Sultanate of Oman.
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