Arrive early to board flights at Muscat Airport from August 4

Starting August 4, passengers using the Muscat International Airport have been advised to arrive earlier than usual owing to a change in the Passenger Boarding System (PBS) processing, according to the Muscat International Airport authorities.

Accordingly, the cut-off time for passenger processing will be 40 minutes before the estimated time of departure (ETD), which was earlier 20 minutes.

Speaking to the Observer, a top official from the airport said that the new decision is part of its ongoing efforts to improve efficiency and enhance passenger experience and based on the circular issued on Tuesday, which detailed the implementation of the new PBS processing cut-off time.

“As part of our ongoing efforts to enhance passenger experience and operational efficiency at our airport, we have conducted a detailed review of the passenger journey from completing check-in procedures to reaching the departure gates. This review aimed to identify optimal timelines for completing check-in processes and ensure the progression of the boarding process according to the schedule set for all flights, thereby avoiding delays in operational activities. Therefore, starting from Sunday, August 4, the timing for processing passengers in the PBS (Passenger Boarding System) will be changed from 20 minutes to 40 minutes before the scheduled time of departure,” he quoted the circular issued on Tuesday.

This new timing will be applicable to all those who are using the international flights and is based on the calculated maximum travel time from the check-in counter to the departure gate, which is averaged as 40 minutes and it will ensure that passengers have sufficient time to complete all necessary pre-boarding procedures before boarding the aircraft.

"The new system will help optimise services and give an optimum timeline to check in and arrive at departure gate as this will avoid passengers missing flights. Since the time is calculated from the last check-in counter to the last departure gate they have calculated time taken to reach by different age group passengers and set 40 minutes as the optimum time to board the plane," said Sunil D'Souza, CEO, Travel Point.