Oman airline plans to open direct flights to Kazakhstan

The Kazakh delegation was represented by Chairman of the Civil Aviation Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development Talgat Lastayev; the Oman delegation was headed by Director of the Air Transport Department of the Ministry of Transport and Communication Salim al-Husseini.

Following the negotiations, a legal framework was established for flights, according to which, the designated carriers of both countries were given the right to operate 14 passenger and 14 scheduled cargo flights per week. On this basis, already in March next year, it is planned to open direct flights via the Almaty – Muscat air route (the capital of Oman) with a frequency of 7 flights per week by the Omani airline Salam Air. Also, from the fall of next year, it is expected to open air connections along the route Nur-Sultan - Muscat by the above-mentioned Oman airline.

This work is carried out in coordination with the introduction of a 30-day visa-free regime for citizens of the Sultanate of Oman in Kazakhstan, which has been effective since September 30, 2019. It is expected that the opening of direct flights between the two countries, as well as the introduced visa-free regime and favorable climatic conditions in the summer in Kazakhstan will contribute to the development of inbound tourism by citizens of the Sultanate of Oman.

At the same time, the Omani side, for its part, is considering the introduction of a visa-free regime for citizens of Kazakhstan. As a first step, the Omani side plans to provide the possibility of obtaining electronic visas to citizens of Kazakhstan, and in the near future, Kazakhstan will be able to obtain visas at airports and other border points of Oman (as citizens of the United States and other developed Western countries).