Salam Air, a low-cost carrier in Oman started its commercial flight from Muscat International Airport, Oman to Kathmandu from today. The Airbus A320 ‘A40-OVC’ with flight ‘OV201’ landed Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) at 9:01 AM local time today. The flight ‘OV202’ will return to Muscat later today.
General Manager of TIA Mr. Raj Kumar Chhetri with other delegates welcomed the Salam Air’s first flight to Kathmandu along with water salute.
The airline will be conducting 4 flights weekly as it has received operating authorization from the Civil Aviation Ministry of Nepal. The budget airlines sent a proposal for conducting flights to Nepal three months ago and now received morning slot.
IME group has taken the responsibility of Oman’s Salam air General Service Agent (GSA). The starting airfare is estimated at Rs 16,000 for a one-way flight.
Oman’s first budget airline has aimed to carry 1 million passengers by end of 2018. Salam Air network consists of 16 destinations including Muscat, Salalah, Suhar, Dubai, Doha, Jeddah, Karachi, Multan, Sialkot, Shiraz, Tbilisi, Baku, as well as newly introduced Dhaka, Kathmandu, Khartoum, and Najaf.
Salam Air is owned by the Muscat National Development and is an associate of Investment Company (ASAAS) which won a government tender in January. Founded in 2014, ASAAS is a partnership between the State General Reserve Fund, Muscat Municipality, and various pension funds. It operates a fleet of three aircraft — three Airbus A320ceo with Six A320neo on order.
Salam is the second airlines to link Muscat with Kathmandu after Oman Air, the national airline of Oman.
