Iran conflict dents traffic at Oman’s busiest airport

Passenger traffic at Muscat International Airport, Oman’s main international airport, reportedly fell almost 40 percent in March compared with January 2025, as a result of the US-Israeli war with Iran. 

Airspace over the UAE and much of the wider region was largely shut after Iran launched retaliatory strikes across the GCC.

The number of international passengers arriving in Oman fell from 1.2 million in January 2026 to 728,588 in March, the Oman Observer newspaper reported, citing data from the state-owned National Center for Statistics and Information.

The combined passenger traffic in the first quarter of 2026 fell 2.4 percent to 2.86 million from 2.93 million in 2025. 

The number of flights operating from the Muscat International Airport declined from 7,594 in January to 5,515 in March.

However, Oman continued to operate its airports, with state-backed Oman Air and budget carrier Salam Air providing ground transport from Sharjah to Muscat International Airport to evacuate stranded tourists from the UAE.

This month, Oman signed investment agreements worth $130 million to build a new “airport city” around the existing Muscat International Airport to increase revenues.

In March, the Omani government completed the acquisition of SalamAir, the Gulf state’s first low-cost airline, in a strategic move to streamline its aviation sector.

AGBI reported in January that Oman was trying to attract private capital into its aviation sector as part of a 15-year strategy to improve connectivity and modernise infrastructure.

The 2040 targets include handling more than 40 million passengers, transporting about 1 million tonnes of air cargo and raising the sector’s contribution to GDP to more than 3.5 percent.

Muscat International Airport handled 11.8 million passengers in 2025, accounting for 80 percent of Oman’s total 14.9 million passengers recorded that year.

Flag carrier Oman Air reported its first operational profit in 15 years in 2025, after a two-year overhaul aimed at cutting losses and improving efficiency.

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