Friday 19 / April / 2024
Muscat: SalamAir, Oman’s first budget airline, launched its first direct flight to Alexandria in Egypt yesterday.
It took off from the Muscat International Airport at 6.45pm and arrived in Egypt’s second-largest city at around 11pm (Muscat time).
Talking to the Times of Oman at the inaugural ceremony, Captain Mohamed Ahmed, CEO of SalamAir, said: “It is a very exciting time for us. This is our first flight to Egypt which is a fantastic destination, and Alexandria is well famous for its history and being a tourist destination. The relation between Oman and Egypt is extremely good and there is a lot of family and friends visit. We hope that this will be the start and we fly to more cities in Egypt in the future.”
“Alexandria has always been on top of our mind since there were no direct flights from Muscat, and, of course, during the summer, everyone would like to travel to Alexandria,” he added.
Flights from Muscat are scheduled to fly three times a week to Alexandria with fare starting at OMR44.
Present at the ceremony, Mohamed Ghoneim, Egyptian Ambassador to the Sultanate, said the launch of the first flight from Muscat to Alexandria is the result of the work going on for several months.
“I consider today is the collective success of all the parties involved to make it happen and I wish them all the success,” the ambassador added.
SalamAir was launched in 2016 to meet the country’s rapidly increasing demand for affordable travel options and to generate further opportunities for employment and business creation within the various sectors in Oman.
Today, the SalamAir network consists of 14 destinations including Muscat, Salalah, Sohar, Dubai, Doha, Jeddah, Karachi, Multan, Sialkot, Shiraz, Kathmandu, Khartoum, Dhaka, and Alexandria.
The airline also recently became the first Oman-based carrier to receive the new Airbus A320neo aircraft making it one of the early middle east recipients and operators of the highly rated model. In addition to the delivered aircraft, another five Airbus A320neo are expected to join SalamAir’s fleet in H1 2019.
Moreover, a cost-conscious menu of additional services is also available to guests, which includes extra luggage allowance, as well as seat and meal selection.
