Salalah Airport witnesses rush as khareef season peaks

SALALAH: As the khareef (monsoon) tourism season gathers momentum, Salalah Airport has experienced great rush, with the number of passengers who travelled via the airport crossing the 315,000 mark since June 2022 (as of August 13).

Salim bin Awadh al Yaf’ee, Deputy CEO of Salalah Airport, told Oman News Agency (ONA) that the number of weekly flights stood at 195 (arrivals, departures).

Dhofar has become the prime tourism destination, par excellence, in the Arab Gulf during the monsoon season — thanks to its diverse natural features, its exotic climate and unique topographical and ecological characteristics, Al Yaf’ee added.

Among airline companies frequenting the region, Al Yaf’ee mentioned low-cost Wizz Air, which operates two weekly flights from Abu Dhabi to Salalah, and Gulf Air, which operates two weekly flights from the Kingdom of Bahrain.

In addition, Al Jazeera Airways and Kuwait Airways operate 6 weekly flights from the State of Kuwait, while Flynas Airline operates 4 weekly flights from Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Al Yaf’ee said.

Qatar Airways, Air Arabia and Fly Dubai operate flights to Oman throughout the year, but they operate more flights during the monsoon tourism season, said Al Yaf’ee. He explained that, during the khareef, Qatar Airways operates 7 weekly flights, Air Arabia 14 weekly flights and Fly Dubai 6 weekly flights.

Al Yaf’ee pointed out that Salalah Airport also sees active traffic during the monsoon tourism season by national carrier Oman Air, which operates 12 daily domestic flights. SalamAir adds another 9 domestic daily flights, he added.

According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), Salalah Airport registered a 68.9-per cent surge in number of flights (international and domestic) to 2,743 as at the end of May this year (2022), compared to the corresponding period in 2021.