Oman to reopen airports for international flights in October

Oman has confirmed that it will reopen its airports for regular commercial international passenger operations beginning October 1, 2020.

The decision was announced on Monday, September 7, by Oman’s Supreme Committee during a meeting chaired by Sayyid Hamoud bin Faisal Al Busaidi, Minister of Interior and chairman of the committee, reported local media Times of Oman.

These flights will be scheduled as per the prevailing health conditions of the specific destinations and according to the bilateral agreements with other airlines, added the Supreme Committee.

Oman set to reopen airportshttps://t.co/fTSscedNrk

— Times of Oman (@timesofoman) September 7, 2020

Oman suspended regular operations at its airports on March 29 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since then, foreign and domestic airlines were permitted to repatriate expatriates in Oman to their home country and were permitted to bring citizens and residents back to the sultanate.

Following the announcement of the reopening of the airports, Usama Al Haremi, senior manager of corporate communications and media at Oman Air, added: “In compliance with the decisions of the Supreme Committee, Oman Air is preparing to resume its scheduled operations as of early October, by taking care of the precautionary measures to which the company is committed to. The national airline has set up an enormous plan to restart its operations to many destinations around the world,” he added.

From January until May, 3.5 million passengers travelled through the Omani airport, down over 50 per cent from 7.2 million passengers in the corresponding period over the previous year.

As of September 7, Oman has reported a total of 87,328 Covid-19 cases, of which 82,805 individuals have recovered.

It has also recorded 734 fatalities and has said that there are now 3,789 active cases.