Oman Air the Sultanate of Oman’s flag carrier started its first non-stop service to London Gatwick in November last year, from the capital Muscat.
London Gatwick is the 24th destination for the airline.
In the first six months of 2007 the airline carried 643,724 passengers, and in 2006 it carried 601,161 and 506,545 passenger in 2005 during the same period. Oman Air has operated 6,727 flights during the first half of 2007, thus raising the seat factor to 78 per cent. The national carrier has managed to exceed the ceiling of the passenger volume achieved in May 2007 by actually carrying 145,708 passengers during the months of July 2007, or an increase by 36 per cent compared to the same month last year.
Oman Air in 2006 carried a total of 1.226 million passengers with an increase of 91,000 passengers or eight per cent arriving at a traffic growth of two per cent compared with the year 2005. The average seat factor across the network remained at a healthy level of 76 per cent.
In airport services, Oman Aviation Services for 2006 handled 23,545 flights, an increase of 16 per cent, passenger movement of 4.521 million, an increase of 33 per cent.
Founded in 1993, Oman Air is currently operating direct international flights from Muscat to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain, Doha, Kuwait, Cairo, Beirut, Amman, Jeddah, Riyadh and London.