Oman's airport traffic reaches 70% of pre-pandemic level

Muscat, July 31 (IANS) Airport operations across Oman were reaching 70 per cent of the sultanate's pre-pandemic capacity, media reported, citing a statement from the Omani Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

CAA President Naif Ali Al-Abri said on Sunday in a statement that air traffic in Oman was growing rapidly in the past several months and is expected to go beyond the level in 2019 soon, Xinhua news agency reported.

Oman reported a 30.3-per cent surge in passenger traffic year-on-year in the first half of 2023, with 1.98 million travellers using its airports, a Saudi newspaper reported, citing CAA statistics.

Meanwhile, the number of flights saw a 28.4-per cent increase to 9,784 by June from 7,622 in the same period last year, representing a robust recovery, according to Al-Abri.

He said that Oman is keen to enhance cooperation in air transport with countries across the world, adding that 122 bilateral agreements have been made in air transport services, of which 66 are open skies agreements.