Continuing its rapid network growth, Qatar Airways is to significantly boost capacity on its route to the Omani city of Salalah, more than doubling the frequency of its link from Hamad International Airport in Doha from four to eight times weekly over the next three months.
The airline launched the route to Oman’s second city in May 2013, its second destination in Oman after the capital city, Muscat. This has been flown on a four times weekly basis using a two-class 144-seat Airbus A320, but from December 16, 2014 was boosted to seven weekly flights and from February 3, 2015 further boosted to eight weekly frequencies when a daily schedule will be established with a split schedule.
With the additional flights, Qatar Airways will now have four early morning departures connecting via Doha to Europe and the Americas and four early evening departures connecting to flights in the Asia Pacific region. A mix of morning and evening flights means convenient connections for passengers from Salalah to key markets in the Qatar Airways’ route network of 146 destinations.
The growth will support growing demand to this vibrant tourist destination in the Sultanate of Oman and will complement the four times daily service that is also offered by Qatar Airways between Doha and the Omani capital Muscat.
“We are extremely delighted to announce the increase in flights to the popular leisure destination of Salalah that has a tremendous appeal for visitors across the Gulf, Europe, the United States and other countries,” said His Excellency Akbar Al Baker, chief executive officer, Qatar Airways Group.
“Thousands of tourists already visit Salalah every year, and we look forward to contributing to help further boost leisure and business tourism while providing travellers from Oman with greater choice and more flying options,” he added.
Salalah is a popular tourist destination due to the natural attractions and its seasonal weather, locally known as ‘Khareef’ and has a distinctive natural diversity where the coast blends with the mountains and the desert. It is the capital of Dhofar Governorate, which stretches over a large area in southern Oman and covers a pristine coastal strip of over 550km. The destination is particularly popular with leisure travellers from Europe, North America, Africa and the Middle East but up until recently access has been limited.
In our analysis, below, we look in greater detail at the largest O&D markets from/to Salalah using the Qatar Airways service since it was established in May 2013. More than 46,000 passengers have made use of the route since its introduction (up until the end of October 2014). The point-to-point demand on this route has accounted for 19.1 per cent of the demand, the largest single market, but strong flows from/to Salalah have also been seen from/to Cairo (19.0 per cent), Kuwait (9.0 per cent) and Amman (4.1 per cent), with Bangkok the largest market from outside the region (2.8 per cent).
Data provided by 
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