Patrick Comerford
In my books, I have been somewhere if I have at least enough time to have a coffee. It doesn’t count for me as a visit if I pass through an airport, and it certainly does not count if I fly over a country or travel through a place by car or on a bus or train.
We had a 2 ½-hour stopover in Muscat early this morning when we arrived from Heathrow as we changed planes and transferred to a flight to Kuala Lumpur, where the next part of the odyssey now involves catching a third flight to Kuching late tonight (as I write it’s almost (10:30 pm).
I have travelled through and worked in the Middle East in the past, and had short, brief stopovers in Abu Dhabi and Dubai about 45 years ago, back in the early 1980s. But this is my first time to have ever stopped over in Muscat or to have been in Oman.
Muscat International Airport, formerly known as Seeb International Airport, is the main international airport in Oman. It is 32 km outside the old city and capital Muscat, so there was never going to be any possibility of getting to see Muscat itself, and certainly so chance of seeing any of Oman. The airport is the hub for Oman Air, the flag carrier we are flying with, and SalamAir, Oman’s first budget airline.
Muscat’s original airport, Bayt al-Falaj Airport, was established in 1929 and became known for sharp turns and steep descents. It was mainly used for military purposes and was regularly used by oil companies.
Bayt al-Falaj Airport eventually became too small for increasingly large planes, and was considered too dangerous because of the steep approach caused by the surrounding mountains. Consequently, a new airport with larger spaces to expand operations was needed.
The new airport opened as Seeb International Airport in 1973. At first, it had only a single terminal building and two check-in and immigration desks. It was extended in the 1980s and 1990s with new facilities, a new passenger terminal and a new cargo terminal. The airport was given its present name in 2008.
The current terminal makes Muscat airport the biggest airport in Oman. Building began in 2007, and the airport opened in 2018. In 2019, Muscat International Airport became the first international airport in the world to possess an operational drone detection system.
The airport’s newer and significantly larger terminal, located north of the existing terminal and first runway, opened in 2018. Later expansions are increasing the airport’s capacity to 24 and 48 million passengers a year, with 118 check-in desks, 10 baggage reclaim belts, 82 immigration counters, 45 gates, and a 97 metre high control tower.
The airport promises that ‘for a memorable and comfortable family vacation, there are no better options than Oman’ with its ‘white sandy beaches, palm trees, tropical and Khareef weather’ and that the hospitality of Omani resorts ‘is incomparable to any place in the world.’
It is Ramadan throughout the Muslim world. But were still able tofind time to grab a cup of coffee in Muscat, as we moved through the transfer lounges in the airport to catch our connecting flight to Kuala Lumpur. I am travelling back through Muscat in two weeks’ time.
