Three decades of success – Oman Air has gone from strength to strength. The journey started in March 1993. with a single flight between the cities of Muscat and Salalah. The route, operated by Boeing 737-300, marked the launch of the airline’s domestic network, which was followed shortly with its first international flight between Muscat and Dubai.
Oman Air has been a force to reckon within the Middle East and will be a global force once it’s implemented into oneworld alliance. With a major presence in India, we thought it best to interview the dynamic and energetic Sunil V A, Regional Vice President ISC & FE.
Congrats on your airline’s 30th anniversary.
Thanks. It’s also thirty years of our presence in India. While our first international flight was between Muscat and Dubai, in November 1993 we had our second international flight to Trivandrum. Since then there has been no looking back. We now have a strong international presence and fly to nearly 45 destinations from Europe to the Far East. We now operate a fleet of modern, fuel-efficient aircraft and our on-time arrivals make it one of the best-performing airlines globally. We also have a state-of-the-art Flight Training Centre.
What about Indian market?
India contributes a major share of the overall network traffic for Oman Air. India will continue to be a big focus market, and thanks to a strong recovery in international travel, we hope to restore our 2019 frequencies to India. We have been steadily increasing our frequency of operations with growing demand.
We will soon be flying to 10 cities – Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mumbai, Lucknow, and Thiruvananthapuram. We have announced the launch of five-weekly flights between Muscat and Thiruvananthapuram in August this year. This is in addition to twelve-weekly flights from Muscat to Lucknow to be launched in the same month. Double-daily flights are being operated to these six destinations: Kochi, Kozhikode, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Mumbai. Mumbai will only see wide-body operations, with a mix of Airbus A330s and Boeing B787 Dreamliners.
What about other International market?
We have extensive connectivity to major airports across the Middle East, making us a good option for travel to the Middle East. From India, we offer convenient connections to European points such as Istanbul, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Munich, Milan, and Zurich. Through our partners such as Qatar Airways and American Airlines, we extend connectivity to over 15 destinations across the US and Canada. Most airlines play a vital role in boosting tourism in the country, and Oman Air is no exception. The airline constantly strives towards boosting tourism in Oman. Over the years, we have played an active role in shaping the future of tourism in Oman through our holiday arm – Oman Air Holidays. They offer a wide variety of attractive and affordable holiday and hotel packages at special rates. Oman offers some of the most breathtaking natural escapes, and the landscape has a lot to offer for nature lovers and curious travelers. It’s an opportunity for tourists to also experience true Omani hospitality.
What about MICE?
It’s becoming an important aspect of our business. We have organised several corporate events, incentive tours and destination weddings. Lots of hotels in Muscat and Salalah have huge banqueting facilities. This has made it very convenient.
Your business class is much appreciated.
True. Our innovative layout is comparable to many First Class cabins in the sky. Our long haul flights feature the same Business Class seats – the APEX Suite (a denser 2-2-2 cabin configuration but cleverly designed by staggering the seats along the sides of the cabin and providing a passageway from the window seats thus all seats have direct aisle access). With a pitch of 80 inches and a bed length of 76 inches the seat turns into a fully lie-flat bed. Each seat has a 17-inch personal monitor and two USB ports. Guests also enjoy a set of unisex Amouage kits (the Omani luxury fragrance brand).
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