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Muscat International Airport

Coordinates: 23°35′18.92″N 58°17′26.16″E / 23.5885889°N 58.2906000°E / 23.5885889; 58.2906000
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Muscat International Airport

مطار مسقط الدولي
File:Muscat International Airport Logo.png
Summary
Airport typeMilitary/Public
OperatorOman Airports
ServesMuscat
LocationMuscat, Oman
Hub for
Coordinates23°35′18.92″N 58°17′26.16″E / 23.5885889°N 58.2906000°E / 23.5885889; 58.2906000
Map
MCT is located in Oman
MCT
MCT
Location of Airport in Oman
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
08R/26L 11,758 3,584 Asphalt
08L/26R 13,123 4,000 Asphalt
Statistics (2017)
Total passengers14,034,865 Increase
Total Aircraft movements114,258 Increase

Muscat International Airport (IATA: MCT, ICAO: OOMS), formerly Seeb International Airport,[1] is the main international airport in Oman and is situated 32 km from the old city and capital Muscat within the Muscat metropolitan area. The airport serves as the hub for flag carrier Oman Air and Oman's first budget airline Salam Air features flights to several regional destinations as well as some intercontinental services to Asia, Africa and Europe.

History

The airport opened as Seeb International Airport in 1973, replacing a smaller airfield located in Bayt al Falaj.[2]

It has hosted Royal Air Force BAe Nimrods in the past, including for the 1991 Gulf War. These aircraft cooperated with the Royal Navy of Oman in the 'Magic Roundabout' exercise series.[3] The base was used by a detachment of Vickers VC10 tankers from No. 101 Squadron RAF during the Gulf War training with Royal Air Force SEPECAT Jaguars.[4]

As of 1 February 2008; 16 years ago (2008-02-01), the airport's name has been changed from Seeb International Airport to Muscat International Airport.[1]

Facilities

The entire airport is spread over an area of 5,250 acres (21 km2). It originally featured one passenger terminal building, one runway as well as minor cargo and maintenance facilities and is currently undergoing a major extension and replacement consisting of a second runway, an entirely new passenger terminal and a new control tower. The new facilities underwent testing on December 2017 to positive results.[5]

The facilities also includes a VIP terminal, and housing for airport staff as well as Oman Air employees. The Omani Royal Flight and Royal Air Force of Oman are based at the airport and the RAFO also shares its facilities with MCT.

Terminals

Aerial view of the entire airport showing the new terminal in the center with the old facilities on top
Terminal 2, the former main building

Terminal 1 (New Terminal)

The airport has a new and significantly larger state-of-the-art terminal located at the north of the existing terminal and first runway, opened on March 20, 2018. This new building initially brought the airport's capacity up to 20 million passengers a year upon completion of the first phase.[6] Subsequent enlargements under second and third phases will increase the airport capacity to 24 and 48 million annual passengers respectively.[6] The terminal covers 580,000 sqm and features 118 check-in counters, 10 baggage reclaim belts, 82 immigration counters, 45 gates as well as a new ATC tower, 97 m high. The new terminal is located between the old and new runways and is capable of handling large aircraft such as Airbus A380s and Boeing 747s.[7]

On 31 January 2018, it has been announced that the new terminal will be inaugurated on 20 March 2018 with all current operations to be relocated to the new facility.[8] The new terminal opened on the said date at 3:00 p.m. with the first flight, an Oman Air flight from Najaf, arriving at 6:30 p.m.

Terminal 2 (Old Terminal)

Terminal 2 is a single building, two-story passenger T-shaped terminal. It opened in the 1970s as a replacement of the Bait al-Falaj airport and has been expanded several times during the last years to cater for growing passenger numbers.[9]

This terminal featured 58 check-in counters, 23 departure gates, 4 baggage reclaim belts and some service counters and shops.[9] During its years of operation, passengers and crew were transported to and from the aircraft using shuttle buses as the terminal lacks jet bridges.

After the opening of the new terminal and the relocation of all airlines to it in March 2018, the old facility is planned to be redeveloped to be used by low-cost carriers.[8] On the day the new terminal opened, the last international flight to depart from the old terminal was an Oman Air flight to Zurich Switzerland while another Oman Air flight bound for Salalah became the last domestic flight.

Runways and apron

The airport used to have a single runway, designated as Runway 08R/26L. This runway is capable of handling the Boeing 747-400, and the Boeing 777. A new runway located to the north of the new terminal building, numbered as 08L/26R, was opened on December 14, 2014. The new runway can handle bigger airplanes such as the Boeing 747-8, Airbus A380, and the Antonov An-225. The original runway between the new facilities and the old passenger terminal is closed for refurbishment and expansion[10] as part of the construction of the entirely new main terminal building and apron area.

The old terminal's apron features 32 stands[9] on both sides of the T-shaped passenger terminal building with 30 new ones constructed in two phases[7] in front of the new terminal building of which several are already in use as of September 2016.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Muscat:[11]

AirlinesDestinations
Air Arabia Sharjah
Air IndiaAhmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Mumbai
Air India ExpressKochi, Kozhikode, Mangalore, Thiruvananthapuram
Biman Bangladesh AirlinesChittagong, Dhaka, Sylhet
British AirwaysLondon–Heathrow
Cham Wings AirlinesDamascus
EgyptAirCairo
Ethiopian AirlinesAddis Ababa
EmiratesDubai–International
Etihad AirwaysAbu Dhabi
flydubaiDubai–International
GoAirKannur (begins 28 February 2019)[12]
Gulf AirBahrain
IndiGo Ahmedabad,[13] Kochi, Mumbai
Iran Aseman AirlinesShiraz
Jet AirwaysMumbai (ends 10 February 2019)[14]
Kish AirBandar Abbas, Chabahar/Konarak, Kish Island, Shiraz[15]
KLMAmsterdam, Dammam
Kuwait AirwaysKuwait
Oman Air[16] Abu Dhabi, Alexandria (begins 31 May 2019)[17], Amman–Queen Alia, Athens (begins 1 June 2019),[18] Bahrain, Baku (begins 2 August 2019)[19] Bengaluru, Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Cairo, Casablanca, Chennai, Chittagong Colombo, Dammam, Dar es Salaam, Delhi, Dhaka, Doha, Dubai–International, Duqm, Frankfurt, Goa, Guangzhou, Hyderabad, Islamabad, Istanbul–Atatürk, Jaipur, Jakarta–Soekarno–Hatta, Jeddah, Karachi, Kathmandu, Khartoum (begins 30 May 2019)[20] Khasab, Kochi, Kozhikode, Kuala Lumpur–International, Kuwait, Lahore, London–Heathrow, Lucknow, Manila, Medina, Malé,[21] Manchester, Mashhad, Milan–Malpensa, Moscow-Domodedovo,[22] Mumbai, Munich, Nairobi–Kenyatta, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Riyadh, Salalah, Tehran–Imam Khomeini, Thiruvananthapuram, Zanzibar, Zurich
Pakistan International AirlinesGwadar, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Sialkot, Turbat
Pegasus AirlinesIstanbul-Sabiha Gökçen
Qatar AirwaysDoha
Regent AirwaysChittagong, Dhaka
SaudiaJeddah, Medina, Riyadh
SpiceJetAhmedabad
SriLankan AirlinesColombo
Swiss International Air LinesDubai–International, Zurich
Thai AirwaysBangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Karachi
Turkish AirlinesIstanbul–Atatürk (ends 2 March 2019),[23] Istanbul (begins 3 March 2019)[23]
US-Bangla Airlines Chittagong, Dhaka

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
Cargolux Chennai, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Mumbai
DHL Aviation Dubai-International

Statistics

Oman Air Airbus A330-300s parked on the apron of the old terminal. Until the opening of the new Terminal 1, there were no jetbridges available.
Annual Passenger Traffic[24]
Year Passengers % Change
2017 14,034,865 Increase 28%
2016 10,314,449 Increase 18%
2015 8,709,505 Increase 5%
2014 8,310,927 Increase 10%
2013 7,546,715 Increase 16%
2012 6,479,860 Increase 13%
2011 5,751,516 Increase 26%
2010 4,556,502 Increase 14%
2009 4,002,121 Decrease -5%
2008 4,220,429 Decrease -12%
2007 4,777,747 Steady
Annual freight and movements[25]
Year Freight in MT Aircraft movements
2017 200,852 203,572
2016 180,332 153,326
2015 154,868 109,920
2014 147,248 98,085
2013 120,040 81,244
2012 113,269 73,842
2011 98,780 68,696
2010 96,390 67,160
2009 64,419 55,330
2008 58,486 45,600
2007 77,292 45,655
2006 99,529 46,319

Access

The airport is located near the Sultan Qaboos Highway between Muscat and Seeb. Taxis, car hire and chauffeur services are available. Public buses stop in front of the airport area on the highway.[26]

References

  1. ^ a b "Oman Airports". www.omanairports.co.om.
  2. ^ "Airport History". Oman Airports Management Company. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ Gp Capt Brian Burridge, Royal Air Force Nimrods in the Gulf
  4. ^ "19 Years Over Iraq". The Official RAF Annual Review 2010. Stamford: Key Publishing: 9. December 2010.
  5. ^ timesofoman.com - Muscat airport’s new terminal to be operational by end 2017: Al Futaisi 12 February 2017
  6. ^ a b "New terminal complex for Muscat International Airport". Bechtel.
  7. ^ a b omanairports.co.om - New Airport Development retrieved 30 September 2016
  8. ^ a b gulfnews.com - New Muscat airport terminal to open on March 20 31 January 2018
  9. ^ a b c omanairports.co.om - Airport Development retrieved 30 September 2016
  10. ^ "Pilot information for Muscat international Airport". Our Airports. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  11. ^ omanairports.co.om - TimeTable retrieved 23 July 2016
  12. ^ "GoAir to start Kannur–Muscat flights from Feb 28". economictimes.indiatimes.com. 18 January 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  13. ^ "New Flights". www.goindigo.in.
  14. ^ [1]
  15. ^ http://en.kishairlines.ir/flight-schedule/
  16. ^ omanair.com - Our Network retrieved 3 October 2018
  17. ^ https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/282428/oman-air-files-expanded-new-routes-in-s19/
  18. ^ "Oman Air adds Athens service from June 2019". Routesonline. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  19. ^ https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/282428/oman-air-files-expanded-new-routes-in-s19/
  20. ^ https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/282428/oman-air-files-expanded-new-routes-in-s19/
  21. ^ "Oman Air relaunches flights to Maldives". Tradearabia.com. 28 October 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  22. ^ Liu, Jim (10 May 2018). "Oman Air plans Moscow launch in late-October 2018". Routesonline. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  23. ^ a b "Turkish Airlines to fully move to Istanbul New in late 4Q18". ch-aviation.com. 16 October 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  24. ^ Musacat, OOMS. "Oman Airports". www.omanairports.co.om.
  25. ^ Cargo Flights. "Oman Airports". www.omanairports.co.om.
  26. ^ omanairports.co.om - Transportation from/to Muscat International Airport - Muscat Airport retrieved 23 July 2016

Media related to Muscat International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

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