Thursday 24 / October / 2024
Muscat: Travellers looking to fly into Sohar on business can now enjoy greater connectivity to Oman and the UAE, after new flights linking the city to Salalah and Sharjah were announced.
While Salam Air will now fly from Salalah to Sohar four times a week — Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday — Air Arabia flights from Sharjah to Sohar can now be booked for three separate days: Sunday, Monday and Wednesday.
The news of the expanded flight schedule to Sohar comes just hours after Air Arabia's first flight to Sohar landed on Sunday morning.
In light of this news, Oman's Public Authority for Civil Aviation tweeted, "the authorities have agreed to add a fourth weekly flight to Sohar, one from Salalah and one from Sharjah."
Given Sohar's importance to Oman's economic growth and development, Dr. Anchan CK, an investment advisor in Muscat, welcomed the increased frequency of flights to the city.
"Sohar is rightly named as the 'Gateway to the Gulf' which benefits from an enviable position outside the Strait of Hormuz, meaning it can access over 3.5 billion consumers through the Gulf by land, sea, or air, being at the centre of global trade routes between Europe and Asia," he told Times of Oman.
"With the opening of Sohar International Airport, it will mark the beginning of new era for investors and for Oman," he added. "With the region's fast developing road-air-rail infrastructure, offering better business connections and unprecedented opportunities for growth."
Sohar is also home to the Sohar Freezone, a 4,500 hectare development, that together with Sohar Port, has already attracted investments worth $25 billion.
"Sohar is one of the fastest growing port and free zone developments to have an abundance of space that is readily available and filling up fast for strategic investors," added Anchan. "Ideally located mid-way between Muscat and Dubai and Sohar, Sohar Industrial Estate is home to 60 businesses and 35 units under construction. A further 55 are expected to come on stream in the near future.
"Sohar's three major clusters — logistics, petrochemicals and metals — will soon be joined by Oman's first ever terminal to be dedicated to the handling of agricultural goods," he said. "This new addition will manage the nation's strategic food reserves."
Sohar is Air Arabia's third destination in Oman, after Salalah and Muscat. In addition, while Salam Air has established services to the city, it is currently contemplating whether it should make Sohar a permanent destination on its flight schedule, having set up a Twitter poll to ask users for their opinions on the matter.
