Tuesday, 02 January 2024 12:17 GMT

Sultanate's first budget airline licence awarded

2016-01-21 01:25:54

(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat-

The Public Authority for Civil Aviation has awarded the first licence for an Omani budget airline to Muscat National Development & Investment Company (Asaas).

The awarding of the new air services operator licence will establish the sultanate's first low cost carrier which will fuel economic growth underpinned by strong air traffic demand that is expected to grow by 40 per cent by 2019.

Eng Khalid bin Hilal al Yahmadi CEO of Asaas commented 'At Asaas our aim is to become one of the main development and investment arms for the government and pension funds in the country. To that end we have identified a portfolio of potential development projects for the next five to ten years across various industries.

One of the core sectors is tourism and we are adopting an integrated approach that covers the entire supply chain of which transportation plays an instrumental role as an enabler for development of the economy in general and tourism in particular.'

He added 'The national budget airline will provide access to economical and efficient means of transport and further advance the aviation sector in Oman. It will naturally complement our diverse projects that will soon come on stream including our real estate and entertainment projects to maximise impact and generate sustainable returns. The constant growth of the aviation sector in the region is what drove us to explore the sector and create value for Oman.'

Established in late 2014 as a joint venture between the Muscat Municipality SGRF the Royal Office Pension Fund the Ministry of Defence Pension Fund the Civil Service Employees Pension Fund the Public Authority for Social Insurance the Royal Oman Police Pension Fund the Sultan's Special Forces Pension Fund the Internal Security Services Pension Fund and Oman National Investments Development Company Asaas's mandate is founded on identifying new investment opportunities and intelligent solutions that meet public needs to enrich the quality of life of people in Oman.

The company's business model revolves around collaborating with different public and private sector efforts in fields of tourism logistics healthcare and education to contribute to the diversification of the national economy.

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