Oman sees 26% surge in charter tourist flights

Vinod R Nair

Published: 10:50 AM, Sep 06, 2025

MHT plans to attract charter flights from Spain and Russia in the future.

A chartered flight from Belarus at Salalah International Airport

The Sultanate of Oman saw an increase of 26 percent in the number of charter flights during the 2024-2025 season, with 588 services contributing to around $80 million in revenues from accommodation, transportation, and local tours, the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism (MHT) said in a statement.

Around 93,000 passengers arrived on these flights during the period, including 31,800 passengers from Poland, 19,126 from the Czech Republic, 14,497 from Slovakia, 8,100 from Hungary, 5,323 from Romania, 1,930 from Uzbekistan, 1,500 from Belarus, 530 from Armenia, and 207 from Bulgaria.

MHT plans to attract charter flights from Spain and Russia in the coming seasons.

According to MHT, 466 flights were operated during the previous 2023-24 season.

Overall, the Sultanate received 3.9 passengers in 2024, and 70.2% of them came for entertainment and recreation.

The average spending of an inbound tourist is divided into air transport (31.1%), accommodation services (21.5%), food and beverage services (13.4%), travel agencies and other reservation services (10.1%), and road transport services (7.1%).

MHT has been focusing on charter flight operations to boost the direct connectivity, which was affected in the wake of the restructuring of the national airline, Oman Air. The Ministry seeks to expand services to other regions such as Suhar and Musandam, besides Muscat.

Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here