Salalah Airport Welcomes the First Pakistan International Airlines Direct Flight
Muscat | 4 December 2016: Salalah Airport welcomed last Thursday the first Pakistan International Airlines direct flight from Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore. The twice-weekly service will be operated by Airbus A320 which accommodates 150 passenger in economy class and 8 passengers in first class.
Salim bin Awadh Al Yafei, General Manager of Salalah Airport noted, “We are pleased to welcome the first direct flight connecting Salalah with Lahore in Pakistan. This step enhances the presence of the airport internationally, and makes travel convenient for the 70,000 Pakistani residents in Salalah. Additionally, it contributes in boosting tourism sector in the area by providing direct access to Salalah for visitors from Pakistan without the need to stop at Muscat.”
“Since its official launch, which coincided with Oman’s 45th National Day Celebrations, Salalah Airport has achieved a remarkable growth in the number of users and the prompt processing of passengers passing through the terminal. The Airport recently celebrated one million passengers in the first 10 months of 2016, indicating a growth of 19% on an annual basis. With the launch of the new direct flight to Pakistan, we hope to see higher numbers of passengers in the coming period and we are well placed to welcome them.” He added.
Shahzad M. Paracha, Country Manager PIA added, “We are pleased to launch our direct Lahore / Salalah flights. This will serve Pakistani nationals working in Salalah, who previously had to travel first to Muscat then on to Pakistan. We will operate two direct flights weekly, and we take this opportunity to thank the Salalah Airport management and staff as well as OAMC for their efforts and high professionalism they showed as they welcomed our first direct flight.”
Thursday flights will departure from Allama Iqbal International Airport at 12:30, and will land at Salalah Airport at 15:30. The departure time from Salalah Airport will be at 16:30 and land at Lahore at 21:00. Additionally, the Sunday flight will departure from Lahore at 21:15, and will land at Salalah Airport at 00:15. The departure time from Salalah Airport will be at 01:15 and will land in Pakistan at 5:45.
“To attract more aviation companies to operate their direct flights to Salalah Airport, we have worked closely with OAMC to market the new airport in the global markets. The Salalah- Lahore direct flight comes as part of our strategic goal of placing Oman’s airports amongst the top 20 airports in the world by 2020.” Salim bin Awadh Al Yafei concluded.
OAMC also recently welcomed the first ever British Airways direct flight from London to Muscat, in addition to SriLankan Airlines commening direct flights from Bandaranaike International Airport to Muscat International Airport. Additionally, OAMC recently welcomed the first US-Bangla Airlines direct flight to Muscat from Dhaka.
OAMC works in close collaboration with regional and international airlines, as well as the relevant government bodies to position Oman as a unique tourist and visitor destination, and is working to enhance the range of facilities and commercial services provided in Oman’s Airports nationwide. The number of international airlines operating at Muscat International Airport now totals 33 carriers.