Salalah International Airport

Salalah International Airport
مطار صلالة

IATA: SLL – ICAO: OOSA

SLL
Location of Airport in Oman

Summary
Airport type Civil / Public
Owner Government
Operator OAMC
Serves Dhofar Province/City of Salalah
Location Salalah, Oman
Hub for Oman Air
Elevation AMSL 73 ft / 22 m
Coordinates 17°02′20″N 54°05′32″E / 17.03889°N 54.09222°E / 17.03889; 54.09222Coordinates: 17°02′20″N 54°05′32″E / 17.03889°N 54.09222°E / 17.03889; 54.09222
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
07/25 10,958 3,340 Asphalt
08/26 13,123 4,000 Asphalt

Salalah International Airport (IATA:SLL, ICAO:OOSA) is the Sultanate of Oman's second gateway. It is located on the Salalah coastal plain, 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi) northeast of Salalah's city centre. It was earlier primarily used as a military airfield by the Royal Air Force (RAF Salalah) and latterly, co-located with the civilian airport, by the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO Salalah). In 2003, the Salalah airport got the status of an international airport. Salalah airport is located in the Dhofar Governorate in the southern part of the Sultanate. The area is a popular tourist destination for both local citizens and foreigners, especially from July to September when the Asian monsoon touches the region commencing the start of the Khareef season, making it an unusually attractive location within the normally arid Gulf region.

It is also expected that tourism in this area will increase steadily over the next 20 years, adding more to the strain on the airport network. The new airport officially began operations in November 2015.

History

Salalah Airport opened in 1977. Initially, it only handled domestic flights from Muscat and a few chartered flights. Oman Air Services (OAS) began services to Salalah in 1982 and the inaugural flight of Oman Air arrived from Muscat in April 1993.[1] Oman Air began scheduled services to Dubai from Salalah in 2003, leading to increased passenger traffic while other Gulf carriers operated flights only during the Khareef season. The following year, Air India commenced operations to Kozhikode and then to Cochin, making it the first airline to operate non-seasonal international flights to Salalah. [2]

International airport

In 2011 planning and construction began for the new state-of-the-art Salalah International Airport. The move was made by the Ministry of Transport and Communication to further boost the city's tourism sector as well as to cater to the growing amount of passengers flying to-and-from the city. Deals were signed with more than 20 different construction companies[3] to complete the International Airport in deals worth $854 million.[4]COWI A/S-Larsen Joint Venture had been the main consultant on the project, which was later taken over by HILL INTERNATIONAL LLC.[5]

The Salalah International Airport is planned to cater to 1 million passengers in the first phase. Also the construction of a second, 4-km runway is scheduled for the new airport.[6] The airport's current runway will also be expanded to cater to the largest of aircraft, as well as the construction of a new parallel taxiway to the north.[7] The international airport will also feature a 65,000 sqm passenger terminal building with car parking for up to 3,000 vehicles and a 57-meter high ATC Tower .[3][6]

Design of the airport takes into account future development projects and allows expansion to cater for up to 6 million passengers per year, if required.[8]

The new Salalah international airport commenced operations in June 2015, with an Oman Air flight from Muscat becoming the first airline to arrive at the new airport. However the new airport was officially opened in November 2015.[9] The old Airport situated to South of the new one has since been transformed into a Domestic and Emergency Airport.

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Air Arabia Sharjah
Air India Express Kochi, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram
Alitalia Charter: Milan-Malpensa
Eurowings
operated by SunExpress Deutschland 		Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn (begins 1 October 2016)[10]
flydubai Dubai-International
Oman Air Dubai-International, Jeddah,[11] Muscat
Qatar Airways Doha
Rotana Jet Abu Dhabi[12]
Small Planet Airlines (Poland) Charter: Katowice, Warsaw, Wrocław
SunExpress Charter: Izmir[13]

Statistics

Since 2003, the airport experienced increases in passenger traffic and civilian aircraft traffic.[14]

Year Total passengers Total Freight including Mail in Tons Total Civil Aircraft movements
2014 841,970[15] N/A 8,571[15]
2013 746,994 1,417 7,944
2012 629,305 1,335 6,175
2011 513,278 1,366 5,520
2010 455,297 1,283 5,085
2009 426,503 1,284 5,045
2008 407,788 1,129 4,248
2007 337,679 1,110 4,079
2006 288,700 1,441 4,215

References

  1. ↑ "History". Oman Air. Retrieved 2015-03-02.
  2. ↑ "Your Gateway to Oman". Omanairports.com. Retrieved 2015-03-02.
  3. 1 2 https://web.archive.org/20120506104452/http://main.omanobserver.om:80/node/89106. Archived from the original on 6 May 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2012. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ↑ "Muscat Airport terminal ready by end of 2013". ConstructionWeekOnline.com. 2012-10-09. Retrieved 2015-03-02.
  5. ↑ http://www.cowi.com/menu/project/RailwaysRoadsandAirports/Airports/Pages/salalah-international-airport-oman.aspx
  6. 1 2 "Salalah International Airport, Oman". COWI. Retrieved 2015-03-02.
  7. ↑ https://web.archive.org/20110319022744/http://www.larsen.co.om:80/sia.html. Archived from the original on 19 March 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2012. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ↑ https://web.archive.org/20121101233854/http://timesofoman.com/innercat.aspx?detail=13902. Archived from the original on 1 November 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2012. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ↑ saúdavel Revisado.
  10. ↑ Eurowings Mit FTI nonstop nach Salalah (German). FTI Touristik announcement. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  11. ↑ Shroff, Ruchi (2013-05-20). "Oman Air delays Salalah-Jeddah launch". AviationBusinessMe.com. Retrieved 2015-03-02.
  12. ↑ "Rotana Jet moves base to Abu Dhabi International". thenational.ae. 27 October 2014.
  13. ↑ http://www.ameinfo.com/germanys-sun-express-launch-weekly-izmir-salalah-344182
  14. ↑ "Oman Airports". Oman Airports. Retrieved 2015-03-02.
  15. 1 2

External links

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