Sun, 11 September 2011
Oman Air exceeds 1.8m passenger mark - MUSCAT — Shaikh Said bin Ali bin Nafl al Mas’haali, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Transport and Communications for Civil Aviation Affairs, Deputy Chairman of Oman Air’s Board and Head of its Executive Committee, said that the national carrier is currently witnessing rapid growth in all its operations.
In a statement to Oman News Agency (ONA), Al Mas’haali said that Oman Air managed to transport 1,845,341 passengers during the first half of 2011, a 24 per cent increase compared to that in the corresponding period last year. Oman Air’s catering unit also provided 2,450,151 meals constituting an increase of 16 per cent of last year’s corresponding period.
Al Mas’haali pointed out that the company raised its revenues by 40 per cent, its passenger traffic by 38 per cent (3.3 million passengers), seat occupancy rate by 72 per cent from 61 per cent and transported 28,600 tonnes of goods (an increase by 99 per cent in air freight).
The revenues also grew by 238 per cent and the number of meals presented on board of the company flights increased to 4.5 million from 3.5 million meals (a growth by 29 per cent), he said.
Al Mas’haali added that during 2010, Oman Air launched 8 new destinations, taking up the total to 41 destinations, including countries of the region and a number of Arab, Asian, African and European countries.
Al Mas’haali pointed out that the company’s fleet now comprises 26 aircrafts, namely 15 Boeing 737, 4 Airbus A330/200, 3 Airbus 330/300 and 2 Embraer 175 jet aircrafts. Two more aircrafts will be received in 2012, he added, noting that the company is set to purchase 6 Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which are expected to be delivered in 2015.
Al Mas’haali also said that the company will launch two new destinations in the near future to Zurich in Switzerland and Moscow in Russia. As for the air fares, he said that Oman Air fares are in line with the market prices. In response to a question on the efforts undertaken by Oman Air to promote for the Sultanate as a tourist hub and attract more visitors, Al Mas’haali pointed out that Oman Air supports all efforts undertaken by the Tourism Ministry by providing unique travel experiences and high quality services.
As for domestic (inbound) tourism, Al Mas’haali said that Oman Air is pressing ahead with its steady efforts alongside with the Tourism Ministry to enhance the national economy. Towards this end, Oman Air continues sponsoring many events and forums held in the Sultanate including Khareef Salalah Festival and Muscat Festival.
During July 2011, Salalah Tourism Festival season, Oman Air provided 53,483 seats to Salalah compared to 38,256 seats during the corresponding period last year. It also enhanced its air flights on this line by operating 201 additional flights during July 2011, said Al Mas’haali, adding that the company launched the new air fare for Muscat-Salalah-Muscat line, (RO 51) with effect from July 2011.
Al Mashaali added that Oman Air re-operated its flights between Dubai and Salalah (two flights weekly) to meet needs of customers while maintaining the air fares at (RO 85).
Speaking about human resources development, Al Mas’haali said that Oman attaches great importance to the Omanisation policy. The company goes ahead in implementing the Omanisation policy through ambitious strategies and plans that aim at attracting attracting more Omani people and increasing their knowledge and skills to keep pace with the new developments in all fields.
He said that the company’s board has approved a number of ambitious plans that aim at employing more Omanis this year.
In this context, Al Mas’haali dded that IATA recently named the training centre in Oman Air as one of the best 10 training centers in the region. This stresses the company's commitment to apply the best training practices and human resources development. Oman Air training center provides a number of training programmes not only for the company's employees, but also for foreign bodies in a bid to provide constant support and enhance safety and quality criteria in all civil aviation fields.
Al Mas’haali said that Omanis currently occupy a number of senior executive posts in Oman Air. “While the current Omanisation rate of the company is high (64 per cent), this rate is expected to rise more as more qualified citizens will be employed in the coming period,” he said.
Oman Air is very keen on sponsoring different career exhibitions organised in the Sultanate, said Al Mas’haali, adding that Oman Air is committed to preparing the Omani manpower to join the civil aviation field and occupy posts, such as pilots; one of the major jobs for which there is a growing demand in different parts of the world. Oman Air continues announcing for registration of the secondary education graduates who meet requirements to work as pilots or engineers.
Oman Air bears 70 per cent of the costs of their education abroad, he furthered.
“The number of Omani pilots at the company is now 213 or 57 per cent of the total number of pilots working for the company,” Al Mas’haali said, adding that the company announced that it will conduct assessment tests for graduates with effect from September till the end of this year (2011), said Al Mas’haali.
“The company also published advertisements about its keenness to recruit aviation engineers from among the secondary education graduates after receiving the required training courses,” he added. “By the end of this year (2011), the company will name 3 to 5 accredited colleges, so those interested in aviation field may join to avoid not recruiting them in the company,” he continued.
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