Saturday 20 / April / 2024
MUSCAT: With the summer season expected to see a jump in travellers, airlines are gearing up to provide better connectivity to India from the Sultanate of Oman.
The introduction of direct flights from the southern Indian city of Chennai to Muscat by budget air carrier, IndiGo, is set to provide more options not just to Chennai but also to other Indian cities and Sri Lanka.
Oman’s national carrier, Oman Air, has also boosted its connectivity to India with the recent announcement of two new destinations to Indian cities of Lucknow and Thiruvananthapuram.
Oman Air’s major network expansion in its summer schedule also introduces flights to Chittagong (Bangladesh) and Maldives.
Besides, the Chennai-Muscat flight, IndiGo hopes to capture a larger share of the international market and confirmed the opening of several new flights to the Middle East.
From March 26, IndiGo will start flying on Chennai-Muscat route, besides operating daily flights on the Abu Dhabi-Hyderabad, and Abu Dhabi-Chennai routes. It may be mentioned that IndiGo previously operated Chennai-Muscat route from 2016 to 2018.
In his remarks to Times of Oman, an airline representative from Muscat said: “We are happy to see the introduction of direct flights between Chennai and Muscat from March 26. Passengers will be allowed a baggage allowance of 30kgs besides 7kgs of hand luggage until final destination. The one-way fare between Muscat- Chennai is starting from OMR 44.
“Chennai will be IndiGo’s fourth direct destination to Muscat. We already have direct flights to Mumbai, Kochi and Hyderabad. All our aircraft are operated with A320-NEOs.”
The flight will depart from Chennai at 12:45am and arrive in Muscat at 3am. The return flight will depart Muscat at 4am and land in Chennai at 9.20am.
With an aim to consolidate its network in the sub-continent, Oman Air, the national airline of the Sultanate, unveiled its summer schedule for 2023 recently. The addition of four destinations, including two Indian cities, and increase in frequency of flights on certain Indian sectors, will bring a 60 percent increase in the number of flights from its hub in Muscat compared to the previous year.
This will provide the market with approximately 60,000 more seats weekly across its network.
The four new destinations being introduced for the summer schedule are: twelve-weekly flights from Muscat to Lucknow, India and five-weekly flights between Muscat and Thiruvananthapuram, India (from August); four-weekly flights from Muscat to Chittagong, Bangladesh (from March end); four-weekly flights from Muscat to Maldives (from June end).
Raising the frequency of the flights to different Indian cities, Oman Air will now operate double-daily flights to Mumbai (from March end, wide-body), double-daily flights to Chennai (from March end), double-daily flights to Kochi (from March end), double-daily flights to Kozhikode (from March end) and double-daily flights to Hyderabad (from March end).
A statement from Oman Air said that the expanded network and the new schedule demonstrates the company’s ongoing efforts to contribute to the economy of the Sultanate of Oman while also exhibiting its drive for increased global reach through its award-winning services and products, along with its signature Omani hospitality both in the air and on the ground.
