Friday 19 / April / 2024
Muscat: Oman Air has vowed not to pass the cost of a new fee, introduced by authorities 'without formal consultation' it says, on to passengers. Oman’s Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA) announced it was increasing its air traffic fee from April 1 in a move to boost authority’s revenue by more than 25 per cent.
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The authority’s chief executive officer Mohammed Al Zaabi tweeted the same on his official twitter handle last week, but the move has not been welcomed in all corners of the aviation industry, coming on the heels of a recent hike in the airport departure tax.
However, Oman Air has told passengers it will shoulder the burden of the new cost not them. “The national carrier will not pass this fee rise to the passengers due to the competitive pricing in the region by other Gulf carriers. And due to the commitment to stimulate travel to Oman, Oman Air will not off-set these imposed increases by adjusting the fares upwards,” the spokesperson told Times of Oman.
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“Any increase from the Authorities applies automatically and fully for the national carrier. No exemptions are made for the national airline. Oman Air respects the increases and will comply accordingly, even though such increases, which are imposed without formal consultation, could affect development of the logistic industry,” the Oman Air spokesperson added. Another official from a GCC-based airline had commented earlier that fee increase move will affect the aviation industry and other activities in Oman.
“Airlines will not prefer to fly to Oman if they have to shell out more and more money. This will affect tourism prospects Oman,” the official had said earlier. A travel agent also had said that any fee hike in aviation sector will have a domino action.
“Airlines are going to see if it’s worth their while flying into Oman. Airlines with more than one flight will re-think their strategy. Should they have fewer flights to Oman or none at all,” the travel agent said. Recently, the Oman Airport Management Company (OAMC) had hiked airport departure tax from OMR8 to OMR10 and Oman Air had raised ground handling charges in response to the increased fees levied on the airline across its network.
However Oman is not alone in the Gulf in increasing airport charges. On Wednesday the UAE’s official news agency has reported that , every passenger leaving the UAE from any of Dubai’s airports, including transit passengers, will be charged AED35 as a service fee for using airport facilities.
According to the report, airlines operating in Dubai airports are tasked with collecting the fee while issuing tickets, whether in the UAE or outside the country, effective March 1, 2016 for flights departing Dubai’s airports after June 30, 2016.
The collected fees will be transferred to Dubai Airports, and subsequently to the Dubai Government However, the new move exempts passengers below two years and cabin crew from paying the fee in addition to those transit passengers who have same arrival and departure flights.
The move aims to improve Dubai’s airport infrastructure and boost its capacity, which is set to reach 100 million passengers by 2023, as well as support expansion projects such as the state-of-the-art Concourse D at Dubai International Airport, the expansion of Terminal 2 and the renovation of Terminal 1.
