Oman Air will axe Dhaka from its list of destinations and introduce four new routes to its schedule, Abdul Rahman Al Busaidy, acting chief executive officer of Oman Aviation Services Company, the airline's holding company, said.
Al Busaidy said Oman Air will end flights to Dhaka by the end of March as the route had proven uneconomical. Speaking on the sidelines of the Regionals 2002 aviation conference, Al Busaidy said Oman Air would also begin flights to Beirut, Zanzibar, Mombasa and Dar-Es-Salam by June. "Our board has officially approved the new routes," he said. "The fares to different sectors have gone so low it is hardly economical for airlines here. For example, fares to Bangladesh have gone as low as RO40 ($104) one way, with the addition of 70kg worth of free baggage. "Now, in such a scenario, even if we fill the plane and even have passengers standing in the middle, we will not be able to make any profit." He said these were the problems encountered by airlines when they slash fares to uneconomical levels. He also said that by June, Oman Air would have only two types of aircraft instead of nine. "Two years ago, we had a total of nine different aircraft, made of five different types. But, by June we will have only two types and this will really improve our efficiency," he said.