Oman Air (WY) is to launch today June 15, 2008 a five-times-a-week flight each way to Bangalore from Muscat. In a statement, the airline said that the new flight, which is to be operated by a Boeing 737 / 800 aircraft, would leave Muscat every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday at 2100 and arrive in Bangalore at 01.50. In the return direction, the flight will leave Bangalore every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday at 0250, and arrive in Muscat at 0440.

On the occasion, His Excellency Darwish bin Ismail Al Balushi, secretary-general of the Ministry of Finance and member of the board of directors of Oman Air, who is carrying out the chief executive officer's duties, said we are excited to be able to announce our entry into the huge Indian market. Today, we are able to offer our passengers the Bangalore option on top of our additional most recent service to Kalicut, in which we have commenced recently.

“The launch of the destination will open up new opportunities for people travelling between Muscat and the thriving southern region of India. India’s business connection to Oman is strong and travel demand in recent years has grown at impressive rates. With the rising wealth in Bangalore we’re confident that we’ll also appeal to travellers who would come to the Sultanate for business or holidays or can use Muscat’s hub advantage to connect travellers onto Oman Air’s extensive network of destinations,” he added.

HE Al Balushi further stated that Oman Air has been able to launch the new Bangalore service following the new MoU legitimated by the Omani Directorate General of Civil Aviation and Meteorology, and the Indian civil aviation authorities, which includes our newest destinations in India namely Bangalore and Calicut; thereby increasing the number of destinations for Oman Air in India to 10. The new MoU also allowed Jet Airways of India, which recently launched its flights to the Sultanate to increase its flights to Muscat, he added. India is an important destination for us and we are happy to be given the opportunity to link more centers across India to our network.  

Corporate Communications and Media of Oman Air informed that Bangalore, officially Bengaluru, is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Located on the in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city with population exciding six million people, and fifth-most populous urban agglomeration. It is home to numerous public sectors such as heavy industries, software companies, aerospace, telecommunications, machine tools, heavy equipment, and defense establishments. Bangalore the department added is known as the Silicon Valley of India owing to its pre-eminent position as the leading contributor to India's IT industry. It has developed into one of India's major economic hubs moreover described as one of the "best places to do business in the wired world”.

It is noteworthy that at the present, Oman Air operations take-off from its hub Muscat to 26 destinations, including 12 destinations in the Indian subcontinent; New Delhi, Mumbai, Kochi, Chennai, Trivandrum, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, Kozhikode and now Bangalore. Also Karachi in Pakistan, and Chittagong in Bangladesh;10 international destinations in the Middle East: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Jeddah, Riyadh, Bahrain, Doha, Kuwait, Beirut, Cairo, and Amman, in addition to London in Europe and Bangkok in the Far East, in addition to domestic flights to Salalah and Khasab.