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Transit passengers to pay RO 3 fee from January

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A fee of RO 3 will be levied on transit passengers using the airports in Oman from January 1, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology said in a gazette notification on Sunday.


The ministry amended the Civil Aviation Law to add a fee of RO 3 on each transit passenger. The original law issued in 2007 imposed a departure fee of RO 5 on international flights and excluded transit passengers, domestic passengers and passengers under the age of two.


According to aviation experts, the new transit fee will bring a small relief to the aviation sector reeling under worldwide travel restrictions.


The number of passengers travelling through airports in the Sultanate (Muscat, Salalah, Sohar and Duqm) as at the end of August 2020 reached 3.79 million.


The number of flights landing and departing from Muscat, Salalah and Sohar International Airports as at the end of August 2020 stood at 27,325, according to the latest data released by the National Centre for Statistics and information (NCSI).


The total number of passengers at Muscat International Airport fell by 68.5 per cent to 3.41 million as at the end of August 2020, over the same period of the previous year. Meanwhile, the total number of flights at Muscat International Airport also fell by 64 per cent to 28,129 flights as at the end of August 2020, from 78,171 flights during the same period of 2019.


The number of international flights at Muscat International Airport was 25,681 flights as at the end of August 2020, dropping 63.9 per cent over the same period of 2019. Meanwhile, the total number of international passengers at Muscat International Airport declined by 68.6 per cent as at the end of August 2020, reaching 3.16 million passengers. This included 1.51 million arrival passengers, 1.63 million departing passenger, and 6,632 transit passenger.


Meanwhile, domestic flights at Muscat International Airport fell by 65.5 per cent to 2,448 flights as at the end of August 2020, against 7,098 flights during the same period of 2019. The arrival and departure of domestic flights also dropped by 65.8 per cent and 65.2 per cent, respectively. The total number of domestic passengers at Muscat International Airport declined by 67.1 per cent to 255,179 passengers as at the end of August 2020, against 776,018 passengers during the same period of 2019. This included 126,884 arrival passengers and 128,295 departing passenger, the NCSI report showed.


Meanwhile, according to the report, the total number of passengers at the Salalah International Airport fell by 69.3 per cent to 295,540 passengers as at the end of August 2020 compared to 962,778 passengers during the same period of 2019. The total number of flights at Salalah International Airport dropped by 68.9 per cent to 2,526 flights compared to 8,120 flights in August 2019.


The total number of international flights at Salalah International airport fell by 66.7 per cent to 1,110 flights as at the end of August 2020 while the number of domestic flights declined by 70.4 per cent to 1,416 flights. The total number of international passengers fell by 66.8 per cent to reach 122,258 passengers while the number of domestic passengers also dropped by 70.8 per cent to 173,282 passengers.


Meanwhile, the total number of passengers at Sohar International Airport fell by 66.3 per cent to 68,714 passengers for the period under study compared to 203,647 passengers during the same period of 2019. The total number of flights at Sohar International Airport also declined by 68.1 per cent to 534 flights as at the end of August 2020 compared to 1,673 flights in August 2019.


Duqm Airport also saw a drop in the total number of domestic passengers by 60.5 per cent to 14,539 passengers as at the end of August 2020 compared to 36,766 passengers during the same period of 2019. The total number of flights at Duqm Airport till the end of August 2020 reached 154 comprising a decline by 62.1 per cent compared to 406 flights in 2019, the report concluded.


(with inputs from ONA)


Vinod Nair


@vinot_nair


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