Duqm Airport all set for commercial operations

MUSCAT, Aug 28 - Commercial operations at the Passenger Terminal Building at Duqm Airport will start from September 17, the Ministry of Transport and Communications announced on Tuesday. The announcement follows completion of the project and the basic operating trials that saw participation from all the parties concerned. Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al Futaisi, Minister of Transport and Communications, said the opening of terminal at Duqm Airport is in line with the qualitative leap witnessed in the civil aviation sector in the Sultanate. As an important addition to the Special Economic Zone in Duqm, the airport will contribute to the revitalisation of economic, social and tourism sector in the country. He said all construction work linked to ‘Package Three’, which includes the passenger terminal building and the accompanying facilities, has been completed. Airport operator, Oman Airports, in cooperation with the government agencies and companies operating flight services, will continue with the trial operations until September 15. The airport, which is in line with the latest international engineering standards, has been equipped with modern systems in the fields of communications, information technology, security surveillance systems and navigation and meteorological devices. It will help the airport deal with flights both from the Sultanate and international flights from abroad. The terminal building is spread over 27,386 sqm, of which 9,614 sqm is for the passenger terminal which can handle 500,000 million passengers a year. The capacity can be expanded to two million passengers annually. The ground floor will have restaurants, retail stores and other service facilities. It will have two aerobridges, five check-in counters, electronic gates with advanced security systems and a conveyor belt for international and domestic flights. The airport will have a 38m Air Traffic Control (ATC), buildings meteorology services, airport services, security apparatus, cooling units and a fire station. An air cargo complex has been built next to the passenger terminal with an area of 9,958 sqm. It can handle 25,000 tonnes a year.