Muscat Airport announces partial closure for maintenance work

Muscat: Effective March 27, the Muscat International Airport’s runway will be unavailable and closed on every Sunday, Monday and Wednesday from 5.15 am to 6.15 am, according to a circular issued by Oman Airports Management Company (OAMC) to all the airlines operating in the country.
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Citing some maintenance activities on the runway, the circular said the last start up for departures of the flights will be at 4.55 am during these days.
Speaking to the Times of Oman, Usama Al Haremi, senior manager and head of Corporate Communications and Media Department, Oman Air, said runway closure for maintenance is a routine affair that happens from time to time. “As one of the key stakeholders in the Muscat International Airport, Oman Air extends its full cooperation, whilst working hard to minimise any resulting disruption for passengers. On a limited number of occasions when disruption is inevitable, we make every effort to contact passengers in advance, using the details they provide during the booking process. We would like to thank our customers for their patience and understanding during the airport's maintenance period,” he said.
For this, a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) has already been issued by the OAMC recently to all airlines.
A NOTAM is a notification filed with an aviation authority to alert pilots of potential hazards along a flight route that could affect the safety of the flight.
Some passengers, however, believe that there could be flight delays because of this. “Early morning flights on weekdays are very essential. So I would request the concerned authorities to carry out the maintenance activities on the runway as soon as possible,” said Sajid M, who regularly travels to neighbouring countries on business trips via morning flights.
A spokesperson for a reputed airline, said their flight is scheduled to arrive at the Muscat International Airport at 3:37 am and leave at 4:27 am. “But we are delayed sometimes as we avoid flying over some airspace. If we are delayed, we can only fly after 6:15 am as the runway is closed. However, we are making desperate efforts to be on time so that the passengers don’t get delayed,” he added.