Oman Air is set to increase frequencies on four of its key destinations to India. The number of flights from Muscat to Goa will increase from six per week to one a day. And in a major move for the national carrier of the Sultanate of Oman, daily flights from Muscat to Bangalore, Kochi and Trivandrum will increase from daily to double-daily.
The additional flights will offer a total of 5,131 more seats to the four named destinations, and will be operated using Boeing 737-800 and 737-900 aircraft. Once the uplift in frequencies has been introduced, Oman Air will operate a total of 126 frequencies per week between Muscat and its destinations in India.
Oman Air flies to 19 destinations in the Indian subcontinent that include the core lands of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives, out of which 11 destinations in India.
The Chief Executive Officer of Oman Air, Paul Gregorowitsch, commented:
“We are delighted to be offering thousands more air travellers the opportunity to fly between Muscat and four of our key destinations in India.
“Since we first launched flights to India in the 1990s, demand for seats aboard Oman Air’s outstanding aircraft has been consistently high. We will now offer daily or double-daily flights to all eleven of our destinations in India.
“Our new flights to Goa, Bangalore, Kochi and Trivandrum will offer even greater choice and convenience for both leisure and business travellers. Therefore they will not only support the growth of tourism in Oman and India, but will also help to promote vital trading partnerships between our two countries. We are confident that our additional flights will be greeted with enthusiasm by both existing customers and those who are new to Oman Air.
“On behalf of Oman Air, I would like to thank the Indian Government for their very positive response to our proposals.”
Oman Air first launched flights to the world-renowned leisure destination of Goa in March 2015. In response to customer demand, the airline has since increased frequencies from four flights per week to six per week.
Oman Air’s flights to Bangalore serve both business and leisure travelers. The city is the third most populous in India and is known as ‘the Silicon Valley of India’ as a result of its role as the country’s major exporter of information technology. It is also a major centre for the aviation and aerospace sectors, with Boeing, Airbus, the National Aerospace Laboratories and the Indian Space Research Organisation each having corporate centres in the city.
Oman Air’s increased frequencies to Kochi and Trivandrum offer travellers access to the beauty of the south-western state of Kerala. Kerala’s culture and traditions, coupled with its varied demographics, have made the state one of the most popular tourist destinations in India. In 2012, National Geographic’s Traveller magazine named Kerala as one of the “ten paradises of the world”. Furthermore, Trivandrum’s mining, IT, fisheries and agriculture sectors make it a growing centre for both exports and inward investment. And Kochi’s role as a major international centre for container trans-shipment provide important synergies with Oman’s burgeoning cargo sector.
Oman Air’s increased frequencies between Muscat, Goa, Bangalore, Kochi and Trivandrum will further serve India’s expatriate workforce, which enjoys a significant presence in Oman and the wider Gulf region.