Oman Air key role in economic growth

Oman Air is determined to play a key role in the country's economic development, the company's chief executive officer told Gulf News. Wayne Pearce said Omanis were proud of the country's national carrier, adding it had a critical role to play in shaping the future of the Sultanate. "Look at where Dubai has come from; it has been a phenomenal change and one that arguable could not have happened so quickly without the help of Emirates airline," he said. "Oman has seen tremendous growth in tourist arrivals over the last few years and we are working with the Ministry of Tourism to maximise growth opportunities; countries can gain a lot from having a strong national carrier," he added. Oman Air posted a loss of 110 million riyals (approximately Dh1 billion) for 2011 as fuel costs spiralled but Pearce says the company is moving ahead with its expansion plans. The firm has 26 planes in its fleet with a further 14 aircraft on order. The carrier added two Embraer E-175 aircraft to its fleet last year and currently operates four Airbus A330-200s, three A330-300s, 15 Boeing 737s and two ATR-42s. Pearce says the company has no plans to go public anytime in the near future, adding the airline's main focus is on serving Oman. "We do not see ourselves being in the merger and acquisitions business. We have 14 aircraft on order, which gives us a lot of potential for growth. "We still have some capacity to sell seats but we are fast using it with our growth rate. Our main focus for now is running an entity for Oman and bringing traffic to the country, which in itself is quite a lot to take on," he said. "The loss posted for 2011 was partly due to the company's growth rate as we faced additional costs through our expansion. There was also a lot of heavy fuel increases; we are not immune to that and we took our share of the price hikes. However, 2012 has got off to a good start and we are doing better than last year."