SalamAir will fly to 19 cities next year (original) (raw)

Published: 10:34 PM, Dec 19, 2018

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MUSCAT, DEC 19 - Oman’s budget airline, SalamAir, plans to serve 19 destinations, including new ones such as Alexandria in Egypt, Mashhad in Iran and Chittagong in Bangladesh in 2019.

Mohamed Ahmed, CEO, SalamAir, told the Observer, “We have already received an A320 Neo aircraft, which has started flying; we will receive another five such aircraft next year.”

With the arrival of all the A320 Neos, the company’s fleet strength will go up to nine.

He said the airline may look at summer season destinations like Turkey.

On Duqm, he said the airport won’t require too operators at the time. “Whenever there is demand, we will ramp up our operations.”

He said there was pressure due to the rising fuel prices, but the budget was on track and the plan for 2019 has been approved. “We are heading towards profitability,” he said.

Mohamed said the airline was eyeing the south India, including the city of Kochi in the state of Kerala, and was in discussions with the Indian authorities in this regard.

He said, “I met Indian officials in Delhi recently for talks on the traffic rights and we still have some formalities to be completed. We are eyeing destinations in south India; we are also looking at Kochi.”

On plans for the recently-opened Kannur airport in Kerala, he said the Indian authorities have not yet opened the airport for foreign airlines. “Whenever the option is available, we will give top priority to Kannur.”

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