Oman Air

Template:Cautionbox Airline |founded = 4 June 1993 (1993-06-04) |headquarters = Muscat International Airport,
Muscat, Oman}}

|key_people =

• {{nowrap|Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Futtaisi (Chairman)
• Abdul Aziz Al Raisi (CEO)

|hubs = Muscat International Airport |frequent_flyer = Sindbad Frequent Flyer |website = omanair.com |aoc=|focus_cities=|num_employees ]] Oman Air ({{lang-ar|الطيران العماني) is the national airline of Oman. Based at Muscat International Airport in Seeb, Muscat, Oman|Muscat; it operates domestic and international passenger services, as well as regional air taxi and charter flights. Oman Air is a member of the Arab Air Carriers Organization.

Historical Facts about Oman Air

Beginnings

Oman Air can trace its root back to 1970, when Oman International Services (OIS) was established. The company became a civil aircraft ground handling provider at Beit Al Falaj Airport. In 1972, OIS moved its operations to the new terminal at Muscat International Airport|Seeb International Airport. The company took over Gulf Air's Light Aircraft Division in 1977, before establishing Aircraft Engineering Division in the same year. Rapidly expanding civil aviation industry of Oman led OIS to the building of several facilities – including hangars, workshops and in-flight catering – to cater for the increase in activity.

In 1981, Oman Aviation Services became a joint-stock company. OAS also purchased 13 aircraft from Gulf Air, allowing the company to replace its turboprops Fokker 27 -600 with the −500 series. The following year, Oman Aviation Services jointly commenced jet services, along with Gulf Air, to Salalah. From 1983 to 1993 and the company purchased new equipment, including the Cessna Citation, and new facilities to help it improve its services.

Foundation in 1993

Boeing_737-86N,_Oman_Air_(Travel_Service)_AN1202991 - An Oman Air Boeing 737-800 with the airline's initial color scheme ATR_ATR-42-500,_Oman_Air_(Cimber_Air)_AN0724121 - A former Oman Air ATR 42-500

In 1993, Oman Air was founded. The airline's start was in March, when a Wet leased|wet-leased Boeing 737 Classic|Boeing 737-300 from Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services (AWAS) flew from Muscat, Oman|Muscat to Salalah. In July of the same year and the airline's first international flight was operated to Dubai, also using a Boeing 737–300. Flights to other destinations quickly followed, with Trivandrum (Trivandrum International Airport|Thiruvananthapuram) services starting in November, Kuwait and Karachi in January 1994, and Colombo in October. In 1995, two Airbus A320 family|Airbus A320s were wet-leased from Region Air of Singapore to replace the 737s. From 1995 to 1997, services were commenced to Mumbai, Dhaka, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Chennai. In October 1998, Oman Air was admitted in the international aviation industry trade group International Air Transport Association (IATA). By the end of the following year, Gwader, Peshawar, Jeddah and Al-Ain were included in the airline's ever-expanding route network, although the former two, along with a host of other destinations, were withdrawn in 2000.

Development since the 2000s

In March 2007 and the Government of Oman|Omani government recapitalised the airline, which saw the government increasing its shareholding from roughly 33 to 80 percent. It was also announced that Oman Air would be re-evaluating its strategic plans, with a possibility of entering the long-haul market. This culminated in the announcement by the government in May 2007 that it would be pulling out of Gulf Air, and would instead concentrate on developing Oman Air. Oman Air commenced its Flight length|long-haul services on 26 November 2007 by launching Flights to Bangkok and London.

On 2 April 2007, Oman Air announced it had placed a firm order with Airbus for 5 Airbus A330 aircraft for delivery in 2009. At the 2009 Dubai Air Show, Oman Air finalized the order, which involved 3 A330-300s and 2 A330-200s. Deliveries started during the third quarter of 2009. In February 2009, Oman Air announced intentions to lease another 2 A330-200s from Jet-Airways. During the 2009 Dubai Air Show, Oman Air Air also finalised an order for five Embraer 175 aircraft with another 5 options, which the airline received from 2011.

In March 2010, Oman Air became the first airline in the world to offer both mobile phone and Wi-Fi Internet services on selected routes. By November 2010 and the Omani government held a 99.8 percent stake in the airline. In 2011, Oman Air won the Gold award for the "Airline of the Year" at France's Laurier d'Or du Voyage d'Affaires.

During September 2013 the CEO was quoted as saying that Oman Air was studying to move to a 50 aircraft strong fleet by 2017. In April 2015, Oman Air announced it would phase out its smaller aircraft to focus on an all Airbus and Boeing fleet. The 2 ATR 42|ATR 42-500 aircraft were withdrawn by the end of 2015 while the 4 Embraer 175#Embraer 175|Embraer 175 and the Boeing 737-700 aircraft will be retired by the end of 2016. In April 2017 Oman Air announced plans to replace the A330s with Airbus A350s or Boeing 787s.

In July 2017, Oman Air received the award for “Best Airline Staff Service in the Middle East” at the Skytrax World Airline Awards. Besides, in September that year and the Seven Stars Luxury Lifestyle and Hospitality Awards named it the “Best Airline in Europe, Middle East and Africa” for the second year in a row.

In October 2022 and the CEO of Oman Air Abdulaziz bin Saud al Raisi announced that the airlines aim to add over 60 new destinations and 70 aircraft by 2022.

In June 2019 and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) granted the level 4 New Distribution Capability (NDC) certification to the national airline of the Sultanate of Oman. The carrier became one of the first airlines to function on the latest standards, adding the title to its existing level 3 NDC certification.

Corporate affairs

Business class cabin on Oman Air Airbus A330-300 - Oman Air Airbus A330-300 Business class cabin

In-flight services

In compliance with Islamic dietary laws, all meals served on board Oman Air are prepared according to Halal guidelines. Special meals are available by request. Alcoholic beverages are only available on international flights except for Saudi Arabia and Iran routes, in which alcohol is prohibited in both countries by Islamic law.

Airbus A330-300 and Boeing 787 aircraft are equipped with Wi-Fi and mobile network portability on board. The inflight magazine of Oman Air is called Wings Of Oman and is available to all classes of travel on both domestic and international flights in both English and Arabic.

Frequent flyer program

Sindbad is Oman Air's frequent flyer program, launched in 2006. It is a three tier frequent flyer program managed directly by Oman Air. The three tiers are Sindbad Blue, Sindbad Silver which requires 20,000 Tier miles or flown 15 segments on Oman Air in a 12 months period to qualify as well as maintain the Sindbad Silver Tier level, Sindbad Gold which requires 40,000 Tier miles or 30 Tier segments in a 12 months period to qualify and maintain the Sinbad Gold Tier. Sindbad has a partnership agreement with the respective program of Etihad Airways and miles can be earned through a number of Sindbad partners.

Sponsorships

• Oman Air became the Presenting Sponsor for the 2015 NBO Golf Classic Grand Final.

• Orphaned Palestinian children have visited Al Khoudh child welfare centre. This visit has been sponsored by Oman Air and Dar Al Atta’a.

Controversies

Oman Air was taken to court wherein it promised low fare and later on did not honor the fare citing technical glitch.

Livery

The original livery features a white fuselage and a red vertical stabilizer with the former Oman Air logo. A strip is painted green on the rear fuselage, and the Oman Air Arabic and English logo is painted on top of the windows using the corporate red-green palette. The wingtip is painted red. The current livery also features a white fuselage, but the vertical stabilizer changed to blue, with the new logo painted in Gold.

Destinations

Main article: [[List of Oman Air destinations]]

As of September 2022, Oman Air operates a network of 50 destinations in 27 countries out of its primary airline hub|hub at Muscat. The country that sees the most services is India with 11 destinations.

Codeshare agreements

Oman Air has codeshare agreements with the following airlines: {{div col|colwidth=20em

• Emirates (airline) | Emirates
• Ethiopian Airlines
• Etihad Airways
• Garuda Indonesia
• Gulf Air
• Kenya Airways
• KLM-Airline
• Lufthansa
• Malaysia Airlines
• Qatar-Airways
• Royal Jordanian
• Saudia
• Singapore-Airlines
• SriLankan Airlines
• Thai-Airways
• Turkish Airlines
• Bangkok Airlines

{{Div col end

Fleet

Current fleet

Oman Air A333 A4O-DD - |Oman Air Airbus A330-300 Oman Air Boeing 737-800 Prasertwit-2 - Oman Air Boeing 737-800 Oman_Air_Boeing_787-8_(A4O-SB)_at_Frankfurt_Airport - Oman Air Boeing 787 Dreamliner#787-8|Boeing 787-8 Oman Air Embraer ERJ-170-200LR 175LR A4O-EB DXB 2013-01-20 - Oman Air Embraer 175 As of July 2019 and the Oman Air fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Oman Air Fleet

Aircraft	In Service	Orders	Passengers				Notes
			F	C	Y	Total
Airbus A330-200	4	—	—	30	196	226
Airbus A330-300	6	—	9	20	204	230
			—	24	265	289
Boeing 737-800	21	—	—	12	142	154
					144	156
					150	162
Boeing 737-900ER	5	—	—	12	171	183
Boeing 737 MAX 8	5	25	—	12	150	162
Boeing 787-8	2	—	—	18	249	267
Boeing 787-9	7	3	—	30	258	288
			8	24	232	264
Embraer 175	4	—	—	11	60	71
Total	54	28	Historic fleet Oman Air operated the following aircraft previously: Oman Air historic fleet Aircraft Introduced Retired Notes Airbus A300B4-203 Template:Dts Template:Dts Leased from Pegasus Airlines Airbus A310-300 Template:Dts Template:Dts Hi Fly Airbus A320-200 Template:Dts Template:Dts Leased from Lotus Air and Pegasus Airlines ATR 42-500 Template:Dts Template:Dts Boeing 737-300 Template:Dts Template:Dts Leased Boeing 737-400 Template:Dts Template:Dts Leased from Pegasus Airlines Boeing 737-700 Template:Dts Template:Dts Boeing 757-200 Template:Dts Template:Dts Leased from Royal Brunei Airlines Boeing 767-200ER Template:Dts Template:Dts Leased from Malév Hungarian Airlines Bombardier Dash 8-300 1995 2009 References {{reflist External links Media related to [[commons:Category:Oman Air Official website] Official blog IATA members|mideast]] at Wikimedia Commons Template:Arab Air Carriers Organization Category:Airlines of Oman Category:Airlines established in 1981 Category:1981 establishments in Oman Category:IATA members Category:Arab Air Carriers Organization members Category:Companies based in Muscat, Oman Category:Government-owned airlines Category:Omani brands