Muscat: The Sultanate of Oman plans to add 6 new airports, most of which are expected to be operational by 2028-2029, and raise the number of passengers to about 50 million passengers annually.
Nayef bin Ali Al Abri, Chairman of the Omani Civil Aviation Authority, said in an interview with the Saudi “Al Sharq” channel, that design work for the new airports has begun during the current year.
On the sidelines of the Future of Aviation Conference held in Riyadh, he stressed that the Sultanate of Oman aims to operate 13 airports to enhance domestic and tourist transport throughout the country.
He also stressed that the airport system has received attention from the government in the recent period, and therefore Oman has witnessed the opening of several airports to become gateways to the Sultanate.
He pointed out in the interview that these airports would “contribute to achieving the Sultanate’s goal of doubling the number of passengers through Omani airports three times to 50 million passengers by 2040 from 17 million currently,” noting that they will enhance internal connectivity and develop tourism, business and logistics services.
He pointed out that the Oman Aviation Authority has recently been preparing a national strategy to the year 2040, in line with the Omani vision, pointing out that it has been prepared for 8 months “in community and institutional partnership, with more than 60 parties participating in this strategy and currently it is in The stage of approval by the government.
It is noteworthy that the total number of passengers through the airports of the Sultanate of Oman (arrivals, departures, and transit) exceeded 3.84 million passengers during the month of March of the current year 2024, according to the latest official statistics.