Wednesday 08 / May / 2024
Muscat: People planning to travel between Oman and India will have to pay only half the amount they would have paid for their tickets two or three months back, thanks to the expanded operations between the countries.
With India returning to full international operations in the last week of March after suspending them for a prolonged period due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been increase in flights between airports in Oman and a number of major hubs in India, leaving people with more options when it comes to selecting their airline of choice.
“When I was returning to Muscat from Kolkata, I paid INR31,000 (OMR158) per ticket,” said Avinash Kumar, an Indian national living in Nizwa in Oman, in the first week of January. “It was quite expensive because there were not many travel options available at that time.”
Similarly, when Mukesh Mohanan boarded his flight from Kannur to Muscat in February 2022, he was required to pay INR38,000 (OMR194) per ticket. “I had hoped the ticket prices would be lower, but at that time, demand for travel was steadily picking up and there were a limited number of seats available. So, I decided to cough up high fares for my wife and I,” he admitted.
However, when Pradhyumn Tripathi flies back to Oman in the second week of April, he will only need to pay a total of INR14,000 (OMR71), first from the eastern Indian city of Ranchi to the capital New Delhi and then boarding his international flight to Muscat.
This is largely due to more airlines announcing their operation timetables, enabling people to choose a flight and timing of their choice, while previously their choice was restricted to airlines operating under existing air bubble agreements between India and their destination countries.
“I was surprised when the cost of the flight ticket turned out to be so low,” he revealed. “Many friends who had flown before had told me that airfares were quite high when they had travelled. I think the drop in fares is largely due to more availability of airlines.”
More flights are set to resume operations between Oman and India: Starting 25 April, low-cost carrier IndiGo will operate daily flights from Muscat to both Kochi and Mumbai.
Flights from Mumbai to Muscat will depart at 9:45pm local time and arrive in Muscat at 10:55pm. The return flight will take off from Muscat an hour later, arriving in Mumbai the next morning at 4:10am.
Flights from Kochi will depart at 11:25pm and arrive in Oman at 1:40am. Those wishing to board the return flight from Muscat need to note that the plane departs from Muscat at 2:40am, landing five minutes before 8am.
Similarly, low-cost Omani airline SalamAir also announced plans to three Indian cities: Jaipur, Lucknow and Thiruvananthapuram, recently.
With the exception of Sundays, flights to Jaipur will operate the remaining days of the week, while planes to Thiruvananthapuram will also operate six days a week, with the exception of Mondays. Passengers flying to Lucknow can make use of daily flights to that city.
