Salalah Airport fully recovers from Covid-19 pandemic impacts and achieves remarkable growth in passenger and flight numbers

Salalah – Oman Airports: Salalah Airport succeeded in recovering its growth numbers to those experienced prior to the covid-19 pandemic, and also those experienced before 2019. The airport recorded a full recovery from the pandemic’s impacts on air traffic at an international level, at a time when some other airports around the world are still striving to reach similar growth achieved before the pandemic.

The airport also witnessed an increase in air traffic during the Khareef season of this year, reaching 29% in air traffic numbers and 434% in passenger numbers until August 15, 2023 (compared to the same period in 2022).

Salalah Airport’s air traffic witnessed a rise during July and August 2023, exceeding the numbers achieved last year and in 2019. Air traffic grew during July 2023 to reach 1,424 flights against 1,125 during July 2022. In August 2023, the airport recorded 1,744 flights against 1,330 in August 2022, while the air traffic before the pandemic reached 1,362 flights in July 2019 and 1,620 in August 2019.

As for the passenger traffic during this year’s Khareef season, the airport recorded an increase in the number of passengers by more than 34%, compared to the number in the same period of last year’s Khareef season. In July 2023, the number of passengers exceeded 186,000 against 138,000 in the same month of 2022. For August 2023, the number of passengers exceeded 285,000, compared to 212,000 in August 2022. Before the pandemic, the number of passengers didn’t go beyond 154,000 in July 2019 and 200,000 in August of the same year.

These numbers mark a milestone in the growth of air traffic and flights through Salalah Airport, demonstrating the efforts of the Commercial Operations Unit at Oman Airports within the framework of the company’s strategy to achieve recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic impact on air traffic at an international level during 2020 and 2021.

These positive results were achieved by following a comprehensive plan that was successfully implemented at the airport, along with the royal directions of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, may Allah protect him, on reducing oil prices at the airport, which consequently contributed to promoting the airport and its services.

Salalah Airport has attracted ten Gulf and Asian airlines which now operate direct flights from respective cities in the GCC, Calicut and Cochin airports in the Republic of India, and Lahore Airport in Pakistan. Oman Air, the national carrier of the Sultanate, together with Salam Air also contributed to increasing the number of daily flights from and to Salalah airport, in response to the increased demand for travel to the Dhofar Governorate. This positive growth in air traffic and passengers was supported by various media campaigns implemented by Oman’s Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, and by the relevant authorities in the Dhofar Governorate.

Since it started its first operations in 2015, Salalah Airport has become one of the fastest growing airports in the Middle East within the category of airports with a capacity of 2 million passengers. The airport received many awards during the last period, the most recent being the “Best Airport by Size and Region” in the Middle East, and the awards for the most dedicated airport staff in the Middle East, the easiest airport journey in the Middle East, the cleanest airport in the Middle East, and the best airport that receives less than 2 million passengers in the Middle East, as part of the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards, by the ACI in partnership with the travel technology company “Amadeus.”

Notably, Salalah Airport has recently received, for the 5th consecutive year, a five-star rating in the Skytrax World Airports Classification 2023. This comes in recognition of the distinguished levels of service Salalah Airport has made to enhance performance, and as a result of its constant endeavours to achieve the highest levels of operational excellence.

Salalah Airport also won four esteemed awards: Best Airport Award in the category of two million passengers in the Middle East, the award for the most dedicated airport staff in serving passengers in the Middle East, the award for the easiest travel procedures in the Middle East, and the award for the cleanest airport in the Middle East. ACI, in partnership with Amadeus, announced the names of the winners of the 2022 Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards.