Oman

Muscat, Salalah airports see surge in passenger traffic

The freight movement at Muscat increased by three percent to 13,770 tonnes from 13,416 tonnes.
 
The freight movement at Muscat increased by three percent to 13,770 tonnes from 13,416 tonnes.
Muscat: The number of passengers using the Muscat International Airport increased 36 percent to 1,053,254 in September 2023 compared to the same period last year, according to the figures issued by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

During the same period, aircraft movement at Muscat Airport increased by 30 percent to 8,835 in 2023 from 6,802 in 2022.

The freight movement at Muscat increased by three percent to 13,770 tonnes from 13,416 tonnes.

The number of passengers using Salalah Airport increased 28 percent to 122,289 in June 2023 compared to 95,563 during the same period last year.

During the same period, aircraft movement at Salalah increased by 19 percent to 1,183 in 2023 from 998 in 2022.

The freight movement increased by two percent to 64 tonnes from 57 tonnes.

The number of passengers using Sohar Airport dropped 50 percent to 2,417 in June 2023 compared to 4,873 passengers in the same period last year.

During the same period, aircraft movement at Sohar increased by 55 percent to 93 in 2023 from 60 in 2022.

The number of passengers using Duqm Airport decreased 0.3 percent to 6,018 in June 2023 compared to 6, 034 passengers in the same period last year.

During the same period, aircraft movement dropped by 15 percent to 74 in 2023 from 90 in 2022.

The number of aircraft passing the Omani airspace increased by 19 percent from 38,633 to 33,445.

According to IATA, Middle Eastern airlines posted a 27.3 percent increase in August traffic compared to a year ago. Capacity rose 22.7 percent and load factor climbed 3.0 percentage points to 83.1 percent.

“Heading into the last quarter of the year, the airline industry is nearly fully recovered to 2019 levels of demand. The focus, however, has not been on getting back to a specific number of passengers or flights, but rather on meeting the demand by businesses and individuals for connectivity that was artificially suppressed for more than two years.'