Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.9
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
Oman airline Salam Air is planning to open direct flights Almaty - Muscat (Oman) before the end of March 2020, Trend reports with reference to the press office of Civil Aviation Committee of Kazakhstan.
This was announced during bilateral negotiations between the aviation authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Sultanate of Oman, held in accordance with the instruction of the President Kazakhstan to increase the number of international flights.
Kazakh delegation has been led by Chairman of the Civil Aviation Committee of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development Talgat Lastayev, and the Oman delegation was headed by Director of the Air Transport Department of the Ministry of Transport and Communication of the Sultanate of Oman Salim al-Husseini.
As a result of the negotiations, 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.
“Based on this, the launch of direct flights on the Almaty – Muscat air route with a frequency of seven flights per week by the Omani airline Salam Air is planned in March 2020. Starting in fall of next year, launch of flight on the route Nur Sultan - Muscat by the above-mentioned Oman airline is also planned,” the report said.
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 the Republic of Kazakhstan, which has been put into force since September 30, 2019. Opening of direct flights between the countries, as well as the introduced visa-free regime and favorable climatic conditions in the summer in Kazakhstan are expected to contribute to the increase of the tourist flow from the Sultanate of Oman to Kazakhstan.
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 by citizens of Kazakhstan, and in the near future, Kazakhstan citizens 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).
---
Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh