Sohar airport to boost economic growth
Almasalla, ATP News- THE NATIONAL DAY witnessed the opening of Sohar Airport with an inaugural flight from Muscat on Tuesday morning.
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Oman Air will operate three weekly flights to and from Muscat to Sohar airport, which was inaugurated by Minister of Transport and Communications HE Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al Futaisi on Tuesday.
The airport is a major milestone in the aviation history of Oman and is expected to support economic activities in the area and the country in general, Futaisi told media persons. “This is just start, and Sohar will soon witness more domestic and international flights,” he added.
The opening of the airport marked an important milestone in development of the Sultanate’s domestic airport network. “It is appropriate that this latest addition to the Sultanate’s infrastructure was unveiled on Oman’s 44th National Day,” said Oman Air chief operating officer Abdulrahman Bin Harith Al Busaidi. Initially, there will be three flights a week on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday which will be changed to Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday from next year.
The new schedule would be around mid-morning to help passengers making it to Muscat have international connectivity, Busaidisaid. The fare is 18 rials for one-side travel and 25 rials for two-way. Oman Air will use 46-seater flights for the first four months.
This would then be changed to 71-seater ones by March. Busaidi admitted that initially there would have to be government support for this new airport venture. But he expected the project to break even in two to three years. The airport should not only give a boost to tourism, but also support further development of the country’s business sector, he added.
