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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Ticket pricing is determined by open market mechanism: PACA

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Muscat: The high fares for some flights have rattled visitors to Salalah during the final days of the Khareef tourist season.


With several probable travellers taking up the issue with the relevant authorities, the Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA) in Oman on Tuesday said that fares are determined by the open market mechanisms based on the demand and supply and competition among the airlines.


"There is no interference from PACA in determining or approving ticket prices, especially with the presence of more than one airline operating in the Sultanate," the statement said.


The one-way fares from Muscat on the budget airline SalamAir start from RO25 for August 21 and drop to RO18 by August 31. As a testimony to the high demand, flights from Salalah are already sold out between August 21-24, the airline website indicates.


The fares on SalamAir show RO96 for August 25 which drop to RO31 for August 26, 25 for RO28 and 27 and to RO17 for August 29. On the full-fledged Oman Air, the Muscat-Salalah one way fares are between RO30 and RO40 depending on the flight timings from August 22.


At the same time, Oman Air's Salalah-Muscat class fares for RO286.7 (August 24) on a business class with economy class shown to the sold-out on the website. The economy fare is estimated to be RO86 and RO125 for August 25, which stabilizes to RO30 levels from August 26.


However, nearly 70 per cent of visitors to Salalah prefer to travel by road. As of August 19, 706,283 tourists have travelled to Salalah. The one-way fare on Mwasalat buses to Salalah was RO6 and RO10 (return) during the Khareef season.


“Fares have been exorbitant on some days and just unaffordable if travelling with large families. Tickets to some neighboring or regional countries could be must cheaper. No wonder people prefer road despite certain disadvantages,” Khalid, a Salalah native, who feels “any fare above RO45 is too unrealistic”.


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