Oman Air rides against turbulent weather
Sri Lanka’s corporate sector has become one of the most sought after clients to service the premium class offerings on West Asian carrier, Oman Air as it struggles to survive in turbulent times.
On Tuesday night Oman Air hosted an event at the Cinnamon Lakeside for the corporate clientele to be able to pitch their request for more tie-ups with local corporate giants to increase the seating capacity on the premium or business class segment to various destinations from Colombo. Already the carrier has tied up with 15 corporates in Colombo.
At best the carrier has been able to have a 40 per cent increase in overall seat capacity this year in the first 10 months alone but need to fill in more seats on the business class segment.
For an airline that had started their double daily flights in October 2015 they are finding it hard to fill the seats on the business class segment and in this context would not be increasing their flights to and from Colombo yet, the airline’s visiting Vice President of Sales and Marketing Ihab Sorial said in an exclusive interview with the Business Times on Tuesday at the Cinnamon Lakeside.
He said their plans were to ensure the Premium Class was filled to capacity since “we are doing well but not very well”, adding that the premium guest needs more attention and detail and value for money. Overall seat factor from Colombo was around 80 per cent.
When asked about the concerns regarding carriers in West Asia, Mr. Sorial explained, “All airlines are passing through turbulent times due to oil prices – if anything happens in the world it affects airlines”. He pointed out that currently there was an over capacity in the market.
The airline was quoted early in the year announcing cut backs on extra services like chauffeur drives for Premium class passengers amidst Omani government plans to cut their annual state-funding of the airline.
Mr. Sorial explained that while they would be careful in cutting anything they would still continue to offer chauffer drives for their Premium class passengers only on request this time. “Anything superfluous is cut back on,” he said.
In this context he pointed out that they were “scrutinizing each and every route but not shrinking the airline”. Oman Air has already pulled out of Bangladesh due to non-profitability.
Adopting a strategy for sustainable growth the airline has on other routes been looking at increasing its frequencies.
With some West Asian carriers going in for consolidation of routes and partnerships, Mr. Sorial explained that Oman Air on the other hand would not be tying up with any airline or entering any alliance but would work on the codeshares and interline agreements they already have. More recently they had signed up with a Malaysian carrier for commercial cooperation, he said.
With a fleet of 47 aircraft the airline had placed orders for 20 Boeing 737 MAX8s with six due in 2018 and seven in 2019. But the carrier’s previous plan to increase their fleet to 70 by 2020 is pending board consideration.
The airline is also awaiting the opening of the new Muscat airport that is expected to ease the congestion, add aerobridges and create a win-win situation for all.