Over the past years in the Indian market, Oman Air has seen an average rate of close to 80 per cent in seat occupancy and has increased their seat capacity by 30 per cent. “India has always been and will continue to remain a key market for Oman Air. The demand for all 11 of our Indian destinations has always been high and the increased frequencies this year offers more choice and convenience to our guests. The extended traffic entitlements will give a further boost to the tourism sector, prompting many discerning tourists to visit Oman,” Paul Gregorowitsch, CEO, Oman Air, said at a media briefing in New Delhi recently. The dynamic travel industry and forward-thinking aviation sector in India, which is currently the third largest in the world, has made it an important market for the airline.
Divulging more information, he said that the Governments of India and Oman updated their bilateral air services agreement this year. “Oman Air was operating 20,517 seats a week to 11 Indian cities last summer, a figure that is now at 25,584 and will further rise to almost 28,000 by coming winter – enabling more flights,” he said adding that this year onwards Delhi, Calicut and Hyderabad have 21 weekly flights each, and Lucknow operates 14 weekly flights. Starting 01 August 2017, Oman Air will introduce a third daily flight from Mumbai to Muscat, which will increase the weekly capacity from 154 to 161 flights.
Oman Air is hoping that the Indian Government will stick to its stated position of following an open sky policy with countries which are less than 5,000 km from India. “The Indian Government mentioned its intention to have open skies beyond 5,000 km. That is completely done. It announced that the next step will be to have (open skies) within 5,000 km. Oman is within 5,000 km so if the initiatives taken so far by the Indian Government will continue, it is foreseeable that in the next few years where we would knock at the door again because we have added additional aircraft and additional destinations,” Gregorowitsch said.
Replying to a question over acquisition of stake in Air India, the CEO said Oman Air does not intend to make a bid for Air India. “You never say no but if you ask me today if I would write a cheque to participate in (the bidding for Air India), (I would say) we leave this to priority of other Indian carriers. Today we have different priorities. The economies in the Gulf are having some cross winds… There is no interest in making a bid for AI or a part of AI.”
When asked for his comments on the situations arising out the sanctions imposed by neighbours on Qatar, the Oman Air CEO said that there will be no winners if situation prolongs and only losers. He expressed the hope that the tensions will blow over sooner than later.
Given the economic conditions, Oman Air has also decided to grow at a slower pace. As a result, its plan of having a fleet of over 70 aircraft by 2020 has now been pushed to 2023. Oman Air currently has 47 aircraft in its fleet, which comprises Boeing 787S, Boeing 737s, 330s and Embraer 175s.
