Salalah Air will launch its first commercial flight before the end of July, a senior official from the airline has said.

The Salalah-based air carrier will only operate as a domestic flight in its first phase in major and secondary cities of Oman, and in phase two will expand towards a regional service covering East Africa, the GCC/Middle East and Southeast Asia. 

Speaking at the ‘Get Connected’ tourism conference recently, the Salalah air official said, “We are currently looking at population figures and bus time tables in Oman.” Based on that data we will know where people live and where they travel to and maybe that will present an opportunity to us. We are based in Salalah and by the end of the month we will have a schedule.”

“Our first commercial flight is expected to start before the end of July 23 (Renaissance Day), which is a very important day for Oman and it will be great if we can start our first flight then.”

Salalah Air has been established under private Omani ownership, with international shareholders that have an experience in Aviation Management.

They will also provide an Ad hoc and regular charter service, including tourism and Medevac (Medical Evaluation). It will also have an executive jet service, which will serve VIPs and tourists as and when required as a Medevac. The company is also seeking a strategic partnership with Oman Post for cargo services, which would include freight and mail.

The airline is also looking to serve those areas of Oman, which have not been covered previously.

The official also said Salalah Air will work in partnership with Oman Air. “We have no intention of competing with Oman Air; on the contrary we would like to work with them to complement their wonderful activities.”

Ayesha, a resident of Salalah said she is happy because there is now an official carrier only for Salalah. “It’s good news for everyone in Salalah, we have seen several developments over the last few years; we also have a new airport and now an airline dedicated to our beautiful city. So we are really happy about it.”

Last year, Salalah Air also inked a business deal with United Solutions IT to provide integrated solutions to achieve requirements for growth. Salalah Air is a 100 per cent Omani company that was established using an amended model for the charter flights.

The company has operation bases in Salalah, Sohar, Duqm and Muscat.

Source: Timesofoman