Airlines use Omani airspace to avoid conflict zones in region

Date

9/8/2016 1:12:40 AM

(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat-

Oman's airspace has become busy due to the ongoing conflicts in Syria and Iraq as some airlines have rerouted their flights via the Omani airspace. They are taking longer routes to avoid war zones.

Speaking exclusively to Muscat Daily, Khamis al Zadjali, Chief of Tower and Approach Radar at Muscat International Airport, said, 'Oman shares cordial relationship with all countries and this has given an extra advantage for airlines to choose our airspace to avoid conflict zones in the region.'

Zadjali, who has been in the industry for the past 28 years, said, 'The selection of routes is based on preference for direct routes, whenever possible, as this saves on fuel costs and other expenses. If there is a conflict zone the airlines have to reroute to avoid it and this may mean travelling longer distances.

'For example, when Afghanis-tan's airspace was closed during the time of conflict in the early 2000s, a lot of airlines rerouted through the Muscat Flight Information Region (Muscat FIR).'

Zadjali said that Oman's airspace lies at the crossroads of Europe-Asia as well as Asian and African routes. 'The Indian government's open skies policy has allowed operators to enter that market allowing more flights going to/from India via Muscat FIR,' he added.

All Omani airports are equipped with modern equipment and technology to run various operations smoothly. 'A well-equipped airspace attracts customers. When a country opens its skies, it needs to provide updated technology with well-trained people and this comes at an added cost. Our air traffic policy is in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annexes and Documents to which Oman is a signatory state.'

He said that Oman's airspace is regarded as one of the safest zones. 'There are fortunately no major incidents that have occurred due to air traffic controllers. There have been incidents of landing gear failure and other technical issues, but there were no injuries to passengers. In the recent incident of the Emirates Airline crash, Oman helped UAE to reroute many of the flights. Muscat airport also accepted a few flights that were diverted from Dubai because of the accident.'

Zadjali added that it is always good to cooperate with neighbouring countries and the region as a whole to improve capacity.

He added that controllers cannot afford to make mistakes. 'However, humans are not

infallible and when mistakes do happen they are thoroughly investigated in accordance with ICAO principles, which are to find out the cause of the incident and not to apportion blame on anyone.'

He said that laser attacks on aircraft have occurred in Oman. 'Procedures are in place to apprehend offenders as soon as any incident is reported by pilots. Drone activity is also not as prevalent as it is in Europe and America but it does occur and when it does all efforts are made to try and find where it is coming from,' Zadjali added.

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