Muscat: Salalah Airport received the first Kuwait Airways flight, carrying 220 tourists. Kuwait Airways will operate four weekly flights between Kuwait International Airport and Salalah Airport during Khareef Dhofar 2024, which will continue until end oft October.
Zakaria bin Yaqoub Al Harrasi, Executive Vice President of Salalah Airport, said: “This flight signals the launch of the flights of many other airlines from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, whose flights will arrive successively with the beginning of the Khareef Dhofar season 2024 during this June.”
Al Harrasi added: “Oman Airports has worked to fully prepare to receive visitors during this season according to scheduled flights of local, and regional airlines. Flynas will operate ten weekly flights from three major cities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with four flights from Riyadh, three flights from Dammam, and three flights from Jeddah. Jazeera Airways will operate direct flights from Kuwait to Salalah at a rate of three flights per week.
Al Harrasi explained that Salam Air (the Omani economy carrier) would operate direct flights from Baghdad to Salalah Airport at the rate of a weekly flight, from Bahrain to Salalah at the rate of a weekly flight, and from Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates to Salalah at the rate of a weekly flight.
The Executive Vice President of Salalah Airport stressed that Oman Airports seeks to provide all necessary means to receive passengers upon their arrival or departure and to easily complete travel procedures in cooperation with strategic partners.
It is worth noting that Salalah Airport recorded an increase in the number of flights by 26 per cent last May, bringing the total number of international and domestic flights arriving and departing through the airport to 814 flights, compared to 645 flights during the same month of the previous year.
International flights supported this growth. Last May, international flights through the airport increased by 14 per cent, and domestic flights increased by 42 per cent. The number of passengers through Salalah Airport increased by 17 per cent, reaching 95,336 passengers last March.
Salalah Airport recorded an increase in air traffic of 29 per cent and 43.4 per cent in passengers during the Khareef season of 2023 until August 15, 2023, compared to the same period in 2022.
Salalah Airport won the Best Airport in the Middle East award in the “Customer Experience” for 2023 in the category of two million passengers, announced by the International Airports Council in partnership with Amadeus, the leading travel technology company.
Salalah Airport also won the award for the most dedicated airport employees in the Middle East in all categories, the prize for the smoothest airport procedures in the Middle East for all categories, the award for the most enjoyable airports in the Middle East, and the award for the best airports in the level of cleanliness, for all categories, in the Middle East.