Oman Air to fly to Casablanca, Istanbul, Moscow in 2018

Oman Air has announced it will begin flights from Muscat to Casablanca, Istanbul and Moscow this year and is eyeing locations in India after receiving its first Boeing 737 Max.

The carrier ordered 20 Maxs from the US manufacturer in October 2015 and has entered into a lease agreement for a further 10.

Read: Oman Air receives first Boeing 737 Max

At an inauguration event for the plane in Muscat, Oman Air said that it would begin flying to Casablanca in June, Istanbul in July and Moscow in October, according to Times of Oman.

It is also increasing capacity to Paris, Milan and Guangzhou and is studying the possibility of relaunching flights to Singapore, the Maldives and Beirut. Oman Air suspended flights to Beirut in March for “commercial reasons”.

Read: Oman Air to suspend Beirut service

Dhaka, Chittagong, Shanghai and Beijing are also being being considered along with destinations in India if Oman’s air services agreement with the country is revised, according to acting CEO Abdul Aziz Al Raisi.

A 2016 revision saw the number of weekly seats between the two countries increased to 27,405 but the airline wants this boost further to 60,000 as it seeks to become the airline of choice for 39 million passengers by 2030.

“We want to fly to Ahmedabad, Mangalore and Kolkata if the air services agreement between the Government of Oman and India gets revised,” he was quoted as saying.

Oman Air’s new plane is in the Max 8 configuration with 12 business class seats and 150 economy class seats.

It adds to the airline’s fleet of 27 Boeing 737s and seven 787 Dreamliners.