Oman Air cancels over 700 flights in January 2020

Oman’s national carrier Oman Air has suspended over 700 flights for the month of January 2020, Times of Oman reported.

The move followed the Public Authority of Civil Aviation’s directive to suspend all activities of the Boeing 737 Max airliner, a report said.

“As a result of the Public Authority for Civil Aviation directives on suspending operations of Boeing 737 Max, we have cancelled [certain] flights in the period January 2-31, 2020. We are rebooking guests on alternative or next available flights to their destinations. We advise all our guests who are due to travel during the same period to check the flight status or contact our call centre +96824531111,” the official statement on Oman Air’s website read.

A sum of 753 flights in Oman have been impacted by the decision. Among the cancelled flights from Muscat International Airport include the most common ones to Salalah, Athens, Colombo, Karachi, Hyderabad, Amman, Jaipur, Lucknow, Casablanca, Tehran, Bombay, Nairobi, Delhi and Bangkok, the report said.

Oman Air received its first 737 Max plane from US manufacturer Boeing in Q1 2018, part of an order of 30 jets made by the carrier. The airline ordered 20 Maxs in October 2015 and had entered into a lease agreement for an additional 10.

Read: Oman Air receives first Boeing 737 Max

The 737 Max was grounded globally after two of the jets crashed in recent years – a Lion Air jet crashed in the Java Sea in October 2018 causing 189 deaths, while an Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed in March 2019, killing 157 people onboard.

Also read: Boeing should ‘turn themselves inside out’ after 737 Max crisis – Emirates head