Oman Air looks to trade to support new UK flights
Bookings for Oman Air’s new daily flight from Manchester to Muscat have exceeded expectations, according to UK country manager Simon Cook.
The flight will launch on May 1 and will be the only direct service to Muscat from the UK outside of London.
"Looking at early data, it is looking good," said Cook. "May and June are difficult because it’s low season, but July and August ae fabulous. Better than I expected."
To promote the new service, the airline is planning to take around 25 travel agents to experience Oman in May. "We are working very closely with the trade, they are vital to us," said Cook.
He freely admits that, unlike other Middle Eastern carriers, the airline has ‘flown under the radar’ up till now but added: "We have to up the game and get out there. We are a quality five-star airline but people don’t know anything about us."
He is also recruiting a three-strong sales team for Manchester, which will work alongside the five-strong sales team in London.
The flights from the UK attract a mix of business and leisure traffic, however, only 30% is point to point, with the bulk of passengers connecting in Oman onto other destinations.
"The beauty of connecting in Muscat is that 84% of the onward flights we offer from the UK connect within two to three hours," said Cook.
The airline is adding more flights to onward destinations, including increasing frequencies to 11 cities in India and new flights to Nairobi.
Muscat airport is small and easy to navigate, he said, but later this year the carrier will move to a new airport being built nearby. "The new airport is beautiful, really gorgeous, but it’s still small so it won’t take any longer for people to connect," he added.
Oman’s UK flights are operated by Airbus A330s, but Cook said he was confident the services will soon be flown by the state of the art Dreamliner. The airline took delivery of its first Boeing 787 this week and four more are due to join its fleet over the next two years.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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