DRMuscat: Oman’s new Muscat International Airport will officially open on March 20, an official statement from authorities said. The first flight is scheduled to depart at 6:50 pm while the first arrival is slated for 5:30 pm. The last flight will take off from the existing airport at around 3:00 pm, according to senior officials. Ahead of the grand opening, a number of trial flights were carried out from March 15.
The new airport will operate 40 flights per hour with 86 check-in counters, 40 gates, and 29 aircraft stands with jet-bridges, as well as a new control tower. Out of 10 carousels for bag handling, eight will be used for international flights. The decision to build a new airport was taken as research projected a 40 per cent increase in Oman’s number of visitors by 2019.
Planning for the new $1.8 billion airport has spanned over a decade but the first phase of construction began in December 2014, including a new runway, air traffic control tower and civil aviation building. The grand opening marks the completion of the first phase of expansion which increases passenger capacity to 20 million per annum —up from the previous 12 million passengers recorded in 2017.
The airport will undergo further upgrades in three consecutive phases to boost the number of passengers to 24, 36 and 48 million passengers respectively. Presently, the Muscat International Airport is ranked in the top 10 airports in the Middle East, with an average annual growth forecast of 8 per cent.
