Oman will reopen to international flights on October 1, Oman Airports and the Sultanate’s Civil Aviation Authority have confirmed in a statement.
Muscat International is currently operating flights to select regional destinations for Omani residents only, but under the new directive, overseas arrivals and departures will be permitted.
The statement read: “The COVID-19 pandemic has immensely affected the airline industry. With protecting practices in place for our passengers’ welfare and protection, we would like to inform you that Oman Airports is one of the prominent and adamant airports worldwide in the fight against coronavirus. Therefore, we are happy to declare that the Sultanate of Oman Supreme Committee for dealing with COVID-19 has announced the plan to start easing air traffic restrictions and will gradually lift lockdown measures, steadily returning to regular life after months of observing all containment measures to safeguard against the vicious virus.”
It added: “The committee’s latest announcement yesterday was to resume international flights starting from Thursday 1st October 2020, considering conditions and limitations that apply locally and internationally.”
Describing the decision to open to international traffic as a “long-awaited occasion”, Oman Airports said is was “happy to welcome all our airlines and passengers worldwide while wishing everyone a safe and comfortable journey through Oman Airports.”
The operator added: “We declare that our readiness team is handling passenger travel experience throughout our airports with maintaining all COVID-19 safety measures, as we managed over the past months a daily basis average of 15 chartered traffic without any incident or concerns.”
