With the seating capacity in flights between India and Oman increasing by 40 per cent, the traffic between the two countries is expected to get a boost. The capacity addition will see weekly seats go up from 11,500 to 16,000. India has already exhausted 86 per cent of the seat capacity.
State-owned Air India and Jet airways are already flying to Muscat, Khasab and Salalah in Oman. According to aviation ministry sources, IndiGo Airlines has also elicited interest in flying to Oman. Oman Airways is operating from 10 destinations in India.
Recognizing the growth of Oman, Imtiaz Qureshi, chairman of Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) said, “We see a huge potential in Oman. Lately, as an alternative to Dubai, Oman is projecting itself as a country with natural resources like mountains to woo tourists. Oman ,which has tourist inflows from Europe, is working on the emerging Indian market.”
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However, critics say that this reflects Oman Air’s focus on traffic beyond Oman and trying to follow the growth model of other Gulf carriers. The other gulf carriers except Gulf Air have focused on traffic beyond Europe and Africa.
Keyur Joshi, co-founder and chief commercial officer of Makemytrip.com, said, “Oman Air is also focusing on traffic beyond the Gulf. Right now there is a big workforce and VFR (visiting friends and relatives). The Gulf carriers are thriving on the opportunity lost by Indian carriers both economically and geographically.”
Joshi said hub traffic in Oman would increase to 50 per cent from 20 per cent now.
“It is sad that all the hubs surrounding India like the UAE, Singapore, etc. -- with almost no source market -- have combined population less than Delhi and Mumbai, and yet they are many times bigger than weak Indian carriers. It is time for India to develop strong hubs, Joshi added.