Visa-free arrival, open skies to aid aviation sector

The aviation sector in Oman and as well as across the world continue to bear the cost of worldwide restrictions to limit the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.

With the government likely to allow a 30-day visa-free entry to citizens from around 100 countries, the travel and tourism sector is expected to get a much needed boost.

“It may be noted that Sultanate has 111 agreements for air transport services, including 52 for open skies, with plans for concluding more agreements with a focus on open skies policy,” the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said in a statement recently.

The CAA has also conducted rounds of negotiations with the European Union for a comprehensive air transport agreement between the Sultanate and the Union to regulate the services.

According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the number of passengers departing through all airports in Oman saw a decrease of 70 per cent as of September 2020, compared to the same period the previous year. There was a drop of 71.9 per cent in total arrivals through these airports until the end of September, compared to the same period a year ago.

Only 28,455 landings and takeoffs were recorded in Muscat, Salalah, and Suhar airports by the end of September 2020, while 3,908,289 passengers ( arrival, departure, and transit) used Muscat, Salalah, Suhar, and Duqm airports.

The majority of flights were operated to India during this period, according to NCSI.

"Efforts to control the spread of the Coronavirus have resulted in the greatest de-connecting of people since the Second World War. Borders are effectively closed. Our freedom of movement has been severely restricted," said IATA in a report.

International passenger travel has been down by 89 percent and domestic by 43 percent.With just 1.8 billion people expected to travel this year, we are back at 2003 levels.

“In total, 46 million jobs in aviation-related travel and tourism are in peril. Educational opportunities are put on hold. Families are separated. Vacations foregone. And once-in-a-lifetime events are missed. When people cannot fly, the human and economic costs could never be fully tallied.” said IATA.