Air passenger traffic in Oman rises 88% to 3.2mn till March

Air passenger traffic in Oman rises 88% to 3.2mn till March

Muscat – Passenger traffic at airports in Oman witnessed a growth of 88%, reaching 3,287,015 by March this year, compared to the same period in 2022. 

The data, released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), revealed a substantial increase in both arriving and departing passengers, with a rise of 82% and 96% respectively in March 2023.

Specifically, Muscat International Airport recorded a total of 2,959,829 passengers in March this year, reflecting a notable growth of 100.8% on a year on year basis. Additionally, the number of flights at Muscat airport also experienced a significant surge, rising by 93.9% to 22,145 flights this March, compared to 11,419 flights in 2022.

According to the NCSI’s statistics on the nationality of travellers passing through Muscat International Airport in March, Indian nationals accounted for the highest number of departing and arriving passengers, totaling 145,572. They were followed by passengers from Bangladesh (22,580) and Pakistan (39,042). 

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Middle Eastern airlines’ March traffic saw a 43.1% in crease compared to March a year ago. Capacity rose 30.5% and load factor pushed up 7 percentage points to 79.4%.

‘International traffic climbed 68.9% against March 2022 with all markets recording healthy growth, led