Oman Airports opened its doors to welcome travellers coming to the sultanate from around the world on Wednesday.

With the new decisions coming into force from Wednesday, such as lifting the ban on entry of people from certain countries and removal of the quarantine requirements, Oman Airports marked the return of the operations of regular flights by giving the green light to major international airlines to conduct their flights to Oman. 

‘With the expectations of operations returning to pre-pandemic levels and to achieve the highest standards of health and safety, Muscat International Airport has implemented a host of measures in line with the precautionary and preventive requirements which come in compliance with the national efforts to prevent the spread of the pandemic,’ Oman Airports said.

To ensure the safety and health of all passengers and airport workers; Oman Airports has allocated a special path for arriving passengers who are immunised and have a pre-departure PCR test, and another one for those who are not vaccinated or who did not conduct a PCR examination in advance. ‘This ensures the smooth flow of arriving passengers. These new paths include special tracks for first and business-class passengers, for GCC citizens, and for travellers with special needs.’

Saud bin Nasser al Hubaishi, vice president of Muscat International Airport, said, “We are on the threshold of returning to our full operations at Muscat International Airport as well as the rest of the sultanate’s airports. We congratulate all the workers at our airports for the return, which we all have been longing for for a long time. 

“Implementation of a set of strict precautionary protocols at Muscat and Salalah airports enabled us to obtain international recognition as the first airports in the Middle East in application of health standards related to COVID-19. We are constantly updating these protocols and procedures in line with the international standards adopted in this regard and aligning it with the national precautionary requirements approved by the concerned authorities in Oman.”

Oman Airports emphasised the importance of adhering to the precautionary measures and wearing a face mask at all times inside the terminals, and maintaining social distancing of at least one and a half meters inside the airport premises. 

It also called on travellers to present the required travel documents to be able to enter the passenger terminal.