Flight OV481 touched down at 12:30pm with 120 passengers pilots and crew on board, along with SalamAir Head Of Revenue & Network Planning Harish Kutty and an entourage of 12 media representatives from Oman.
On hand to welcome the arrivals to Phuket were Airport General Manager Thanee Chuangchoo and Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket Office Director Kanokkittika Kritwutikon.
The new service operates on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, departing Muscat at 4:00 local time and arriving in Phuket at 13:00 local time. The flight will depart Phuket at 13:45 local time arriving in Muscat at 17:15 local time.
The inaugural flight yesterday departed Muscat with a ceremony of its own in Oman attended by Thai Ambassador Suwat Kaewsook, OmanAirports Chief Commercial Officer Sheikh Samer Al Nabhani and SalamAir CEO Captain Mohamed Ahmed and other executives.
In announcing the new service, Capt Mohamed said, “We are delighted to enter Thailand, a very promising destination for us, given the fact that Oman is a large tourism source market for this popular Southeast Asia country.
“This new route demonstrates our commitment to continually expand our network. Expansion has been a top priority for us and we are proud to have recorded significant progress on this front this year since we have added several new destinations. We will continue with our network and fleet expansion in 2020.”
Capt Mohamed Ahmed, added, “The Sultanate has long established trade and people-to-people ties with Thailand and the country is a significant market for Oman. We believe the new services offered by SalamAir to Phuket will greatly contribute to the growth of tourism and trade of Thailand.”
Emphasising the importance of Oman as a popular tourism destination, Capt Mohamed Ahmed also noted, “This service would further enhance the strong tourist exchange between the two countries.”
SalamAir currently operates three Airbus A320 aircraft and four Airbus A320Neo aircraft. The airline operates domestic flights in Oman to destinations including Muscat, Salalah and Suhar as well as to international destinations including Abu Dubai, Dubai, Bahrain, Kuwait, Doha, Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Tehran, Shiraz, Istanbul, Alexandria, Khartoum, Multan, Sialkot, Karachi, Dhaka, Chattogram, Kathmandu, and Colombo.