Oman Air added Russia to its expansion campaign this week, when it announced its very first flight to the country, with the arrival of flight WY 181 at Moscow Domodedovo Airport.

The inaugural flight took off from Muscat International Airport at 1455 and touched down at the Moscow hub at 1955. With a flight time of five hours and 35 minutes, WY182 departs Moscow Domodedovo Airport at 0020, arriving into the award-winning new passenger terminal at Muscat International Airport at 0655.

“We expect this daily service to further stimulate economic, trade and business”

Eng. Abdul Aziz Al Raisi, Oman Air’s chief executive officer, said: “I am pleased to announce the addition of a new long-awaited route to our network. Russia is an increasingly important destination from Oman, and since we announced this route earlier in the year, we have seen strong interest, both from Oman travellers and from customers transiting through our Muscat hub from cities around the world. Connecting Muscat with Moscow, we expect this daily service to further stimulate economic, trade and business relations between the two friendly countries.”

“Trade between Oman and Russia continues to rise and we are happy to be able to facilitate this further with the start of this service. Oman is turning into a very important regional logistics hub with world-class infrastructure and we are sure this is recognised by the business enterprises in Russia. Apart from strengthening and opening up of new business opportunities between Russia and Oman, our flights will also open the gates for Russian tourists to come and enjoy our beautiful country,” Al Raisi added.

The new service is operated by Oman Air’s Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, with an interior configuration of 162 seats across two classes, with 12 seats in business and 150 in economy.

Paul Starrs, chief commercial officer at Oman Air said: “Our new service will provide more choice and greater convenience as more travellers look to Russia for a holiday getaway. We have done a great deal of preparation before commencing this route through several niche events and agent meet-ups and I am confident that this new addition will be another successful destination for Oman Air.”

Starrs went on to say: “We are sure that there will be demand for both business and leisure traffic, allowing us to showcase our own beautiful country to Russian visitors. Our Russian guests will also be able to take advantage of our fantastic new passenger terminal in Muscat Airport which houses Oman Air’s bespoke premium lounges, 6,000 square metres of duty free shopping, 96 check-in counters and a modern 90-room airside hotel.”

The new service is the airline’s third route launched this year after Istanbul and Casablanca and is part of a broad fleet and network growth strategy which will see Oman Air operate up to 70 aircraft to 60 destinations by 2022.