Salalah Airport sees spike in domestic passenger numbers

Muscat: Salalah Airport has witnessed an increase of more than 100 per cent in the total number of passengers (arrivals, departures) on domestic flights in 2021.

“The number of international flights arriving and departing from Muscat, Salalah and Sohar airports amounted to 28,580 until the end of December 2021, registering a slight decrease of 13 per cent compared to the same period in 2020,” Oman News Agency (ONA), said in a statement.

The total number of arriving, departing and transiting passengers at Muscat, Salalah, Sohar and Duqm airports amounted to 4,475,764 until the end of December 2021. The number of departures through airports decreased by four per cent until the end of December 2021 compared to the same period of the previous year.

Statistics issued by the National Center for Statistics and Information indicated a decrease in the number of incoming and outgoing flights through various airports of the Sultanate of Oman, as Muscat International Airport recorded a decrease of 5.2 per cent from 35,093 flights at the end of 2020  to 33,264 flights at the end of December 2021. While domestic flights through Muscat International Airport recorded a growth of 60.5 per cent, reaching 6,406 flights, compared to 3,991 flights in 2020.

The total number of  passengers (arrivals, departures, and transfers ) decreased by 8.2 per cent, reaching 3,751,355 passengers by the end of December 2021, compared to 4,085,499 passengers at the end of December 2020.

International air traffic through Salalah Airport witnessed a remarkable increase in the number of flights by 12.8 per cent, as the number of arriving and departing international flights through the airport reached 1,438 by the end of December 2021. The number of domestic flights through Salalah Airport also increased by 71.1 per cent reaching 3,633 flights, compared to 2,123 during the same period in 2020.

The number of domestic flight passengers (arrivals, departures) travelling through Salalah Airport increased by 101.5 per cent by the end of December 2021, compared to the same period in 2020.

Sohar Airport recorded a 46.8 per cent decrease in the number of international flights ( arriving and departing ) from 534 flights at the end of December 2020 to 284 flights at the end of December 2021. The number of passengers through Sohar Airport also decreased by 65 per cent from 68,714 passengers at the end of December 2020 to 24,049 passengers at the end of December 2021.

Duqm Airport recorded a 90.2 per cent increase in the number of domestic flights (arriving and departing) to 624 flights at the end of December 2021, compared to 328 flights at the end of December 2020. While the number of passengers  through Duqm Airport increased by 100.5 per cent from 24,805 passengers at the end of December 2020 to 49,731 passengers at the end of December 2021.