Muscat and Salalah airports footfalls rise 16%

Total passenger traffic, including transit and transfer passengers, going through the Muscat International Airport rose 16 per cent to 8,466,973 passengers until October 2015, up from 7,312,502 passengers for the same period of 2014.
Data indicated a 17 per cent increase in the number of arrivals to 4,274,669 until October this year, compared to 3,662,932 passengers for the same period in 2014.The number of departing passengers also increased by 15 per cent to 4,164,817, from 3,619,774 passengers a year ago.
The appreciation in the arrival and departure traffic at the Muscat International Airport can be attributed to the growing number of flights operated by existing airlines, such as Kuwait Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, and Oman Air.
The Salalah Airport recorded an increase of 21 per cent in the total number of arriving and departing passengers to 865,337 passengers until October 2015, compared to 714,415 passengers for the same period of 2014.
In terms of air freight traffic at the Muscat International airport, aviation data indicates an increase in the total unloaded and loaded freight by 9 per cent, with total shipments pegged at 110,655 tons, compared to 101,390 tonnes during the same period of 2014.
As for the movement of air cargo at the Salalah Airport, freight traffic also rose, with the loaded and unloaded freight estimated to be 1,330 tonnes until October 2015, compared to 1021 tonnes during the same period in 2014.