Muscat International Airport

Muscat International Airport
مطار مسقط الدولي
Summary
Airport type Military/Public
Operator Oman Airports Management Company
Serves Muscat
Location Muscat, Oman
Hub for
Coordinates 23°35′18.92″N 58°17′26.16″E / 23.5885889°N 58.2906000°E / 23.5885889; 58.2906000Coordinates: 23°35′18.92″N 58°17′26.16″E / 23.5885889°N 58.2906000°E / 23.5885889; 58.2906000
Map
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 passengers 14,034,865 Increase
Total Aircraft movements

114,258

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 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, 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

The new Terminal 1
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 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
Gulf AirBahrain
IndiGo Ahmedabad (begins 1 November 2018),[12] Kochi, Kozhikode, Mumbai
Iran Aseman AirlinesShiraz
Jet AirwaysDelhi, Mumbai
Kish AirBandar Abbas, Chabahar/Konarak, Kish Island, Shiraz[13]
KLMAmsterdam, Dammam
Kuwait AirwaysKuwait
Oman Air[14] Abu Dhabi, Amman–Queen Alia, Bahrain, Bengaluru, Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Cairo, Casablanca, Chennai, Colombo, Dammam, Dar es Salaam, Delhi, Doha, Dubai–International, Duqm, Frankfurt, Goa, Guangzhou, Hyderabad, Islamabad, Istanbul–Atatürk, Jaipur, Jakarta–Soekarno–Hatta, Jeddah, Karachi, Kathmandu, Khasab, Kochi, Kozhikode, Kuala Lumpur–International, Kuwait, Lahore, London–Heathrow, Lucknow, Manila, Medina, Manchester, Mashhad, Milan–Malpensa, Moscow-Domodedovo (begins 28 October 2018),[15] Mumbai, Munich, Nairobi–Kenyatta, Najaf (ends 10 November 2018),[16] 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[17]
Qatar AirwaysDoha
Regent AirwaysChittagong, Dhaka
SalamAir[18]Doha, Dhaka, Dubai–International, Jeddah, Karachi, Kathmandu, Khartoum, Multan, Medinah, Salalah, Shiraz, Sialkot
Seasonal: Baku, Ta'if, Tbilisi
Charter: Mukhaizna[19]
SaudiaJeddah, Medina, Riyadh
SpiceJetAhmedabad
SriLankan AirlinesColombo
Swiss International Air LinesDubai–International, Zurich
Thai AirwaysBangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Karachi
Turkish AirlinesIstanbul–Atatürk
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[20]
Year Passengers % Change
201714,034,865Increase 28%
201610,314,449Increase 18%
20158,709,505Increase 5%
20148,310,927Increase 10%
20137,546,715Increase 16%
20126,479,860Increase 13%
20115,751,516Increase 26%
20104,556,502Increase 14%
20094,002,121Decrease -5%
20084,220,429Decrease -12%
20074,777,747Steady
Annual freight and movements[21]
Year Freight in MT Aircraft movements
2017200,852203,572
2016180,332153,326
2015154,868109,920
2014147,24898,085
2013120,04081,244
2012113,26973,842
201198,78068,696
201096,39067,160
200964,41955,330
200858,48645,600
200777,29245,655
200699,52946,319

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.[22]

References

  1. 1 2 "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.
  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. 1 2 "New terminal complex for Muscat International Airport". Bechtel.
  7. 1 2 omanairports.co.om - New Airport Development retrieved 30 September 2016
  8. 1 2 gulfnews.com - New Muscat airport terminal to open on March 20 31 January 2018
  9. 1 2 3 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. ↑ "New Flights". www.goindigo.in.
  13. ↑ http://en.kishairlines.ir/flight-schedule/
  14. ↑ omanair.com - Our Network retrieved 3 October 2018
  15. ↑ Liu, Jim (10 May 2018). "Oman Air plans Moscow launch in late-October 2018". Routesonline. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  16. ↑ "Oman Air ends Najaf service in Nov 2018". routesonline. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  17. ↑ https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/279032/pegasus-adds-muscat-service-from-july-2018/
  18. ↑ salamair.com - Destinations retrieved 8 September 2018
  19. ↑ https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/278063/salam-air-plans-mukhaizna-charters-from-june-2018/
  20. ↑ Musacat, OOMS. "Oman Airports". www.omanairports.co.om.
  21. ↑ Cargo Flights. "Oman Airports". www.omanairports.co.om.
  22. ↑ omanairports.co.om - Transportation from/to Muscat International Airport - Muscat Airport retrieved 23 July 2016

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