MUSCAT, 20 April 2004 — Oman Airports Management Company (OAMC) announced yesterday it is to embark on a five-year plan to develop the sultanate’s Seeb international airport at a cost of more than 64 million riyals ($166 million).
“We are fully poised to launch the ambitious project within a couple of months,” OAMC chief executive officer Colin Hobbs told AFP. “We are waiting for the green signal from the government.
“OAMC shareholders are investing more than 64 million riyals over the next five years to turn Seeb airport into a full-fledged 21st century international airport to meet the need of the hour,” he said.
The plan to expand and develop the main airport, which is in Muscat, will “go a long way in boosting tourism” in the country, Hobbs said. The airport’s new terminal is to be almost doubled to around 86,000 square meters and will have a capacity of 6.5 million passengers a year, he said.
OAMC was established in 2002 with a 25-year management concession as part of the government’s drive to privatize its two main airports.
It is 75 percent owned by Capital Aviation Services and 20 percent by the government. Oman Aviation Services Co. holds the balance.
The country’s second main Salalah airport is some 1,000 kilometers south of the capital.
Oman, which has stunning natural scenery, rugged mountains and baking deserts, saw its fledgling tourist industry take a hard blow after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States.
The country, which occupies the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, has avoided the mass tourism of Dubai, targeting instead middle- and high-class tourists to try to better stimulate the economy and not offend local sensitivities.
