Muscat: Oman Airports on Saturday celebrated the fifth anniversary of the opening of Muscat International Airport, and the eighth anniversary of the opening of Salalah Airport.
Since its opening on November 11, 2018, Muscat International Airport has jumped 52 places to 11th spot in the list of the best airports in the world in services and passenger satisfaction in the category of 15-25 million passengers.
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It also won a series of international awards that confirm its leadership in the aviation and travel sector.
Muscat International Airport was the first airport in the Middle East to obtain a health accreditation certificate for travel and safety procedures during the Covid-19 pandemic as it provided a safe passage to and from the Sultanate of Oman during that period.
Immediately after the end of the pandemic, it also won the best airport award of the International Airports Council and the Skytrax award for the best airport employees in the Middle East.
Muscat International Airport has become the first airport in the Middle East to provide global educational roaming service for students, researchers and academics.
To encourage small and medium enterprises, Oman Airports provided sales outlets for them at Muscat International Airport.
Terminal
The total area of the passenger terminal at Muscat International Airport is estimated at approximately 580,000 square metres. It consists of three wings (3 levels for each wing) and the central area (5 levels) that connects the three wings.
The building includes 72 desks for clearing travel procedures for airline companies and 24 desks for clearing travel procedures for business class.
It also includes two gates designated for large aircraft such as A380 aircraft connected to boarding bridges and 10 lines for baggage conveyor belts, eight for international flights and two for domestic flights.
The passenger terminal contains 40 air bridges to transport passengers to and from aircraft through 29 waiting lounges and 16 additional waiting lounges to transport passengers to and from aircraft via buses when necessary, in addition to aircraft parking with a capacity of 59 spaces.
Salalah Airport in Dhofar Governorate is one of the few airports in the world that has been classified as five-star from 2019 until the current year in the category of airports with less than two million passengers by Skytrax.
Salalah Airport is an integral part of Oman Vision 2024. In addition to being a modern architectural icon, it links Dhofar Governorate and the rest of the governorates of the Sultanate of Oman and is Oman's second gateway to the world.
Since its opening in November 2015 until today, the airport has won a number of international and regional awards, including obtaining the carbon accreditation certificate from the Airports Council International.
Salalah Airport was also crowned with four awards: the Best Airport Award in the Two Million Passengers category in the Middle East; the Most Dedicated Airport Staff Award in Serving Passengers in the Middle East; the Easiest Travel Procedures Award in the Middle East; and the Cleanest Airport in the Middle East Award within the International Airport Service Quality Awards.
In September 2022, Salalah Airport also won the award for the best airport in the Middle East in terms of quality of services, and the third place award for the best airports in the Middle East in terms of safety measures during the Covid-19 pandemic, between 2020 and 2022.
During the Khareef Dhofar season 2023, the airport saw 29 per cent in total air traffic and 34.4 per cent in the number of passengers. Air traffic at the airport in July and August reached about 3,168 flights, compared to 2,455 flights in the same period last year.
In a first logistical support of its kind in the Sultanate of Oman, Oman Airports on September 7 linked sea/air freight operations between Salalah Airport and the Port of Salalah.
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