Statistics issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) show that international flights that made connections via Oman’s Airports grew to 55,814 by the end of September 2022, when compared with 26,636 international flights during the corresponding period in 2021.

According to the NCSI, the number of arriving and departing passengers via Muscat International Airport, Salalah Airport and Sohar Airport (including transit passengers) saw a 168 per cent increase to 6,969,976 by the end of September 2022, while the number of departing passengers grew by 120 per cent compared to the corresponding period in 2021.

The overall number of flights (internal and international—arrivals and departures put together) via Muscat International Airport grew by 113.6 per cent to 47,939 by the end of September 2022. These flights carried as many as 5,975,726 passengers, compared to 2,373,363 passengers during the corresponding period in 2021.

The Salalah Airport registered an 82.8 per cent increase in the number of flights (internal, and international) to 6,674 flights by the end of September 2022. In a breakup, the NCSI’s figures show that the number of international flights via Salalah Airport surged by 221.2 per cent, while internal flights grew by 39 per cent to 3,857, compared to 2,774 during the corresponding period in 2021.

The Sohar Airport registered 585 international flights in the number of flights (departures, arrivals) by the end of September 2022. The number of passengers onboard these flights stood at 55,243.

Meanwhile, Duqm Airport posted a 4.7 per cent increase in internal flights (arrivals and departures put together) to stand at 490 flights by the end of September 2022, compared to 468 flights during the corresponding period in 2021. There, the number of passengers grew by 42.4 per cent from 33,919 by the end of September 2021 to 48,290 by the end of the corresponding period in 2022.

Nationality-wise, Indians topped the list of passengers (113,785) who travelled via Muscat International Airport till the end of September 2022, followed by Bangladeshi passengers (52,644) and Pakistani passengers (34,078) by the end of September 2022.