Travel Made Easy: Oman Air Overview

Oman Air is the national carrier of Oman, based in the capital Muscat. It only started flying internationally in 2007 and has earned a four-star rating since. I’ve been impressed with their Business Class as well as their new Muscat Airport Terminal and lounge. If you are planning a trip between Europe and Asia, it’s worth reading on to find out more about the fleet, destinations and experience!

The Airline: Oman Air (WY) started in 1993 with domestic flights and only in 2007 with international routes. They are based at Muscat International Airport (MCT) and serves 50 destinations with a fleet of 49 planes. 

Oman Air Airbus A330

SkyTrax rates Oman Air as a 4-star airline, on par with popular Emirates. 
AirlineRatings gives Oman air a 6/7 safety rating, with one star removed for the ICAO Country Audit for Oman, which is outside the airline’s control.
You can find out more here: Oman Air – Facts & Figures

The Experience: Oman Air is a full-service airline and offers service in First Class, Business Class and Economy Class. The First Class on their Airbus A330 is an open suite in a 1-2-1 layout, but on their new Boeing B787, they are unveiling a fully enclosed suite this year. 
The Oman Air Business Class is fantastic, with one of my favorite lie-flat seats, good food and very friendly service. Add to that very competitive prices and you have some of the best business class value on the planet!

Oman Air Business Class

Oman Air Economy Class is a fairly standard product, but the seats vary greatly from a tight 31in pitch to a generous 34in pitch, so make sure to check the plane schedule for your trip before booking. 
Oman Air just opened a new and very nice lounge at Muscat Airport. It is luxurious, offers lots of room with nicely separated spaces for lounging, eating, drinking and you’ll find showers as well. Even though it can’t compete with Singapore Airlines The Room or the Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul, it adds to an upscale end-to-end experience and makes the connection in Muscat much nicer for premium travelers.

Oman Air Lounge Muscat

The Online & Call Center Experience is a harsh break from this nice experience – customer service has along way to go and is similar to other Middle Eastern airlines or many low cost carriers, so be patient and lower your expectations, if anything goes wrong!

The Rewards: Oman Air has it’s own loyalty program, called Sindbad. Oman Air’s only partner is Etihad, allowing you to earn miles in the Etihad Guest Miles program. Unless you live in Oman and fly Oman Air frequently, I recommend to stick with Etihad Guest for more options to earn and redeem miles – that’s what I’m doing for the time being! I will review the Sindbad program in the future – maybe I can find some hidden gems in the program!


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