Oman Air’s flight crew numbers are receiving a major boost, thanks to a significant increase in the recruitment of Omani citizens.

The airline, which currently operates 30 aircraft and has a further 20 on order for delivery from next year, has also seen a major upswing in the number of Omani trainees preparing to fulfill a range of flight deck roles aboard all Oman Air’s aircraft types.

The carrier currently operates seven Airbus A330s, 17 Boeing B737s, four Embraer E175s and two ATR 42s. The fleet will be strengthened by the arrival of 11 B737s, three A330s six B787 Dreamliners, with first B737 and the first A330 being delivered in 2014.

Over the last 12 months, many Omani candidates have started various part of their training to qualify in the role of first officers on Oman Air modern fleet Types. Ten candidates have joined the Air Transport Pilot’s License (ATPL) courses at the Ecole National Aviation Civil (ENAC) in Toulouse, France, and a further 17 have completed the ATPL course offered by Jeppesen and conducted by Boeing. In addition, seven candidates have been enrolled on the B737 type rating course at CTC in the UK, two candidates are undergoing training for E175 rating at Flight Safety International, Paris and two for ATR type rating at ATC Toulouse, France.

Oman Air currently employs 222 captains, 204 first officers and 12 second officers.

Captain Ali Hassan Sulaiman, chief officer flight operations for Oman Air, said: “I am delighted to welcome all the trainee pilots. I would like to offer a special welcome to the many Omani graduates who have joined Oman Air. All the posts within flight operations are very challenging and it is extremely encouraging to see many Omanis opting to undergo their rigorous training before ‘taking their wings’ in their national carrier.”