Air France launches first direct flight between Paris and Muscat

Muscat: Passengers looking to fly to Paris and beyond from Muscat can now travel by Air France, which has launched three direct flights a week between the two cities.

Operating on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the launch of the route offers 279 seats across three travel classes: business, premium economy, and economy.

“The new route will serve to link the two capitals Muscat and Paris,” said Samer Ahmed Al Nabhani, the chief commercial officer for Oman Airports. “It also will contribute to increasing the number of passengers who travel between both countries for business, tourism and entertainment.

Al Nabhani added, “We are fully prepared to welcome all local and international airlines in synchronizing with the efforts of the teams concerned in marketing our airports as key regional and global hubs while highlighting our continuous implementation for the highest HSE standards and precautionary measures imposed by the relative entities and ensuring their alignment to create a hassle-free safe travel experience for all users of Oman’s airports at this period that are associated with globally-accredited travel protocols and standards.”

France is one of the most attractive countries for travellers worldwide, being a destination for all world tourists with more than 80 million a year, making it on the top of the global tourism in terms of tourist volume. This is driven by its charming nature and picturesque coasts, which create unique memories and an amazing tourism experience.

Besides that, France is a key market for Oman’s inbound tourism as about 68,000 visitors came from France to Oman in 2019 prior to COVID-19. The newly launched route will unlock for passengers the opportunities of discovery and enjoyment of various locations and cultures.

The number of inbound tourists to the Sultanate is growing on a yearly basis, at an average rate of five per cent between 2018 and 2023. The number of holidaymakers to the country is expected to climb to 3.5 million tourists, according to the Arabian Travel and Tourism Market report from 2019.

Furthermore, the Paris route offers additional benefits to Oman-based travellers: from the French capital, they can connect to a wide network of airlines across Europe and beyond the Atlantic Ocean and South America. All these flights are run by Air France and its airline partners within the SkyTeam programme.

This route is also aimed at expanding existing flights between Muscat and Paris alongside current operations of SkyTeam alliance affiliated airlines operating in Oman.