Oman Air will begin flying to three new destinations this month. They are Karachi, Colombo and Cairo.
The carrier last month launched services to Beirut in Lebanon and Mombasa in Kenya, adding to its growing network. The Kenyan coastal city is the third East African port touched by the Omani airline and the 17th route served by the airline. Dr Hamad bin Hashim Al Dhahab, Oman Air chairman, said the new routes were part of the airlineÕs plan to expand its operations. The airline is also on schedule to take delivery of two more new generation Boeing 737 aircraft. Oman Aviation Services chief executive officer Abdulrahman Harith Al Busaidy said the carrierÕs flights to Doha would be upgraded into a jet service, replacing the ATR 42 aircraft with a Boeing 737. Al Busaidy said Oman Air, which will acquire five new generation Boeing 737 in the first phase of fleet modernisation, is also considering augmenting its fleet with wide-bodied aircraft to serve long haul routes. The option on wide-bodied jets is between Boeing 767 and Airbus 310 aircraft and the decision will be based on a study currently under way, he said in the report. Meanwhile, Oman Air and Sabre signed a $4 million agreement to renew the latterÕs multi-host reservation system. Sabre is the worldÕs largest privately owned computer reservations system used by 61 airlines and boarding over 360 million passengers annually. In Dubai, the airlineÕs country manager for UAE, Elhaam Al Busaidy said Oman Air and Kuwait Airways had reached an agreement to offer four flights a week between Dubai and Salalah during the Khareef season in July and August. Al Busaidy said Oman Air would operate three Dubai-Salalah flights a week, on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Kuwait Airways will operate a weekly Kuwait-Dubai-Salalah flight. She said Oman Air will also operate one Abu Dhabi-Salalah flight per week on Fridays.