Several weeks ago, I wrote about how Oman Air is undergoing a restructuring, and that includes making the carrier’s fleet much smaller. I wanted to post an update on this, as Oman Air is grounding a large percentage of its fleet as of today.
In this post:
Oman Air cuts network, parks wide bodies
Oman Air to be ending service with all of its Airbus A330s as of today (March 30, 2024). To my knowledge, the airline hasn’t formally announced this, but the planes are no longer scheduled on any flights after today. It appears that the carrier’s last commercial A330 flight rotation is operating as WY183, from Muscat (MCT) to Moscow (SVO).
Oman Air had leased some of its A330s to Qatar Airways, and those are continuing to fly at the Doha-based airline for the foreseeable future. So you can still fly Oman Air A330s, just not on Oman Air. I’m curious if more of these A330s end up being sent to Qatar Airways, or if they find a new home elsewhere.
For context on Oman Air’s fleet, up until now the airline has had 44 passenger aircraft, including nine Boeing 787s, 10 Airbus A330s, and 25 Boeing 737s. So by parking all of its A330s, the airline is roughly cutting its wide body fleet in half.
From an aviation geek perspective, the retirement of these A330s is quite a sad development. This spells the end of Oman Air’s retro A330 first class. Gahhh, I was trying to fly it before it was too late, but there was an aircraft swap. Now I guess it’s too late!
It also represents the end of Oman Air’s ridiculously cool retro A330 business class, which was such a comfortable throwback.
With this fleet reduction, Oman Air will be cutting frequencies in many markets. On top of that, the airline will be fully cutting service to Chittagong, Colombo, Islamabad, and Lahore, and will make flights to Male, Trabzon, and Zurich, seasonal.
From a passenger experience standpoint, the retirement of the A330s is very bad news. Many routes previously operated by the A330 will instead be operated by the 737, which has a completely different passenger experience. Rather than having flat beds in business class, it just has seats that recline a bit.
For example, I see the 737 scheduled on some dates from Muscat to both Munich and Kuala Lumpur. So while you could previously fly from Munich to Kuala Lumpur in Oman Air’s great wide body fully flat business class, you could now potentially be on a narrow body jet for the entire journey. This makes Oman Air highly uncompetitive for connecting passengers.
Wait, Oman Air was actually trying to make money?
Different government owned airlines have different motives. Often they’re not directly profit driven, but rather are about providing connectivity to a country, as part of a larger economic goal. My assumption about Oman Air was always that the airline wasn’t actually intended to operate efficiently or to make money.
But after doing some searching online, apparently that’s not the case. In 2023, the airline reportedly tapped management consulting firm Oliver Wyman to help figure out why the carrier’s business model wasn’t working. Wait, seriously? Oman Air paid money to figure this out? Gosh, I really am in the wrong line of work, apparently.
On the most basic level, bless Oman Air for having such a great passenger experience, but the carrier’s planes are so inefficiently configured. For example, Oman Air’s 787-9s have 288 seats, including 30 business class seats and 258 economy seats. Other airlines have more seats than that, all while having larger business class cabins and/or a premium economy cabin. That’s no way to maximize revenue.
While Oman Air has a great soft product, the issue is that the airline can’t command a revenue premium for its product, given how competitive the region is. For that matter, Oman Air pretty consistently has the most attractive pricing in the region.
The airline simply hasn’t been efficient, and that has been a major issue. As much as I hate to say it from a passenger experience standpoint, the airline should be configuring its aircraft more efficiently, and should do a better job of controlling costs.
I’m not sure parking A330s is a great solution, either. With Oman Air shrinking even further, the airline will have a harder time filling its existing aircraft, given the reduced connectivity opportunities.
The success of Gulf carriers is largely based on having a robust network, given how small the demand levels are in many of the local markets. And I do think the 737s being scheduled on longer flights will cause many premium passengers to book away from Oman Air.
Bottom line
Oman Air is shrinking significantly at the moment, as the airline is retiring its Airbus A330s, which make up roughly half of the carrier’s wide body fleet. Not only is the airline ending service to some destinations and reducing frequencies, but we’ll also see 737s replacing wide bodies on some longer routes, which makes the Oman Air passenger experience highly uncompetitive.
I can’t help but wonder if Oman Air still plans to join oneworld, given the extent to which it’s in cost cutting mode.
What do you make of these Oman Air updates?
I guess oman air did very big mistake to romove the airbus 330 fleet from service ........... All that's becouse of new management decide
They are shooting themselves in the foot with they're changes The service was very good on the S330I would not use them long haul on a narrow body
Sorry, why exactly is an “all Boeing” fleet a good thing? Making yourself beholden to a single supplier is a terrible idea in any industry, but even worse when that one supplier is Boeing…
Given how skilled Oman Air is at lighting money on fire, seems like the kind of thing they’d take you up on, though.
Oman left Gulf Air way back when. Perhaps a merger between the two could take place. I don't know? Is it worth saving two dying airlines????
I hope that they still join OneWorld, and maybe this news precedes a new order? Maybe getting a deal on Boeing widebodies? That way they have an "all boeing fleet" and will have a modern cabin to send them into the next 30 year's of growth.
Maybe use 737s for thin routes, like Stuttgart - Muscat Seeb - Kannur India or even Pittsburgh - Stuttgart - Muscat - Kannur - Singapore
So sad. Was such a bizarre but fun airline to fly and great for redemptions during Covid times. Loved that quirky First Class and the lounge in Muscat. Another past tense that I'm at least glad I got to fly a few times.
Really wondering how this will impact the region. For Oman it's going to be a huge issue not having a true Intl. flag carrier. Flying a MAX to Europe won't help develop...
So sad. Was such a bizarre but fun airline to fly and great for redemptions during Covid times. Loved that quirky First Class and the lounge in Muscat. Another past tense that I'm at least glad I got to fly a few times.
Really wondering how this will impact the region. For Oman it's going to be a huge issue not having a true Intl. flag carrier. Flying a MAX to Europe won't help develop its tourism sector much. And connecting in Doha or Dubai adds a lot of hassles for such a short hop.
Winners: QR, EY and EK. Especially to the Indian Subcontinent. As well the new Air India if they really do reinvent the carrier.
Losers: The people of Oman, Tourism, and also Sri Lankan Airways whose own government is probably seeing that this is what they need to do as well....gutting Intl service out of Colombo and eliminating wide body long hauls. I expect them to follow suit.
The reality is that the Big ME Three make it impossible for a smaller carrier to compete. None of them can even get pilots. The Big Three suck up every pilot in the region with better pay, tighter operations, and more attractive careers. It's an impossible hill to climb for anyone else. Go Big or Go...really small with your head between your legs.
Hopefully CAN don't get downgauged to 737 MAX. KUL,MUC, Moscow(Before the 2/24 incident) is now gauged at 737 Max
QR extends the leases of the WY 330s and actually seems to be adding aircraft as there are more rotations then what is possible with the existing 4 air frames
“This spells the end of Oman Air’s retro A330 first class. Gahhh, I was trying to fly it before it was too late, but there was an aircraft swap. Now I guess it’s too late!
[photo]
It also represents the end of Oman Air’s ridiculously cool retro A330 business class, which was such a comfortable throwback.”
FYI, seems a bit duplicative.
Qatar has extended the leases of the 4 Oman Air A330s and will expand service to Uganda as well. I wonder if they are leasing additional aircraft from Oman Air given that they are parking perfectly good and young aircraft!?
This article is based on feeling or facts? They're still very much using the A330's.
Such a stupid comment. Do you think these articles are written based on feelings? Check out the latest schedule and you will see.
This aged poorly.
i have stayed & worked in Oman for close to 2 decades. i pretty well know their psyche.
the words aggressive,competitive etc is not not in their lexicon.
on top of that ,they dont believe in seeking international class talent to run such enterprises efficiently. every other business is in such bad shape.their publicly declared obsession about localisation is killing them very fast.so its not about money its all about vision thats poor not the country
Why the Bitterness? Did you get Kicked Out?
I am told by myntravel agent as I am flying to Milan via Muscat on Oman in September that the Government wish to privatise the airline and will be selling the A330 planes to raise capital.
That is a shame. My wife and I have flown Oman Air business class between Sri Lanka and Zürich / Frankfurt for nearly 10 years - at around 60% of the price of Qatar or Emirates and very much enjoyed it's different versions of business class. The service has always been very good. Seven years ago, on a flight from Zürich to Muscat, my wife and I sat in the same row of business class...
That is a shame. My wife and I have flown Oman Air business class between Sri Lanka and Zürich / Frankfurt for nearly 10 years - at around 60% of the price of Qatar or Emirates and very much enjoyed it's different versions of business class. The service has always been very good. Seven years ago, on a flight from Zürich to Muscat, my wife and I sat in the same row of business class seats as His Highness Sayyid Haitham. In early 2020 he became the new Sultan of Oman, with his own 747. I have found a good alternative for flying from Sri Lanka to Zürich - Turkish Airlines, at almost exactly the same price as Oman Air.
I had the privilege of flying Oman Air in its business class in its 330 n 737. Mostly in KUL-MCT- LHR routes. For A330, both the metro and new designs worked well and provide enough space n access especially the window seat on 2-2-2 configuration.
Hope Oman Air can improve further and be more competitive in near future.
OMAN AIR should connect Muscat to the Eastern India like KOLKATA , to get maximum profits in this route .
Ccu already served by other me3, and Oman doesn't serve usa/Canada at all for connections. I think more useful if Turkish or British/Lufthansa/Swiss/etc returns to there, beshi lab hobe tale!
If the problem with cancellation / substitution of aircraft (A330's) was such a problem, then Oman Air is doing the right thing. How an airline expects positive passenger experiences and engagement when constantly 'benching' A330's is irrelevant, despite the fact that when available, those same aircraft & crew provided superlative service.
Trying to recover from such issues is a 'zero sum' game, particularly when an airline actually fails to advise / assist / acknowledge when...
If the problem with cancellation / substitution of aircraft (A330's) was such a problem, then Oman Air is doing the right thing. How an airline expects positive passenger experiences and engagement when constantly 'benching' A330's is irrelevant, despite the fact that when available, those same aircraft & crew provided superlative service.
Trying to recover from such issues is a 'zero sum' game, particularly when an airline actually fails to advise / assist / acknowledge when a cancelation / substitution occurs. This is exactly what happened to Ben. In his case, he was 'gracious about it - but that would have been likely a 1 in 100 instance. The other 99 inconvenienced paying / award passengers might have been more vocal, abusive and less complimentary about this.
We all know that excellent / flawless service will be reported by 1 person who might tell 2-3 friends, but sub-par experiences will easily elicit bad passenger responses and those treated in this manner will happily tell 10 or more. On this basis alone, the Oman Air A330's were a liability, just waiting to happen.
A real shame, given that the pics of their frames looked wonderful and the service offering also appeared impressive.
Ok. Enough chatter about Oman Air! Hardly any of us will get to ever see an Oman plane let alone fly on one! Please stop blogging about them!
You chose to click on the story! Nobody is forcing you to read the article, much less comment on it! Manye readers here find the story interesting. So puh-leeeze no comments from the peanut gallery!
This is sad news, I had high status for many years with Oman and often traveled in their business class cabins, the old 330 seat was such a comfortable experience, the Dreamliner configuration is fine too in biz but economy is not so great.
Unlike the author I did manage a flight from London to Jakarta in first and it was very nice.
I guess this move means the end of that.
You wonder who will use the 1st lounge in Mct.
Wish BA would take the aircraft on and use them to fly to BKK again
Well, the same fate as GF before. From Good to Bad..WY is going to be part OW. Good Luck, flying those B737s for 6 hours or longer in a recliner seat. Would you still get a pyjama in those hlights. LOL. Personally WY is not a choice anymore.
Was an excellent service especially when cabin crew were staffed mainly with Omani staff.
Our most recent business experience was woeful
What a shame
Oman is the poorest country in the region and also has second largest area after Saudia Arabia. Oman's main issue is tourism where the country is described as tourism destination but there isn't real affort either the government or the private sector to develop it. Oman has many beautiful areas for tourists. But unfortunately the government focuses on local tourists. Also the government doesn't profiteering and advertising its strategic location on the trade route.
You might mixed up Oman and Yemen, but Oman is actually one of the high income economies.
Love their 787 business class. The apex suites are great. Hopefully Oman Air won't disappear completely.
Oman Air is now just a funnel that feeds QR. It also reduced the competition in the region so QR could keep prices high.
Oman Air is now just a funnel that feeds QR. It also reduced the competition in the region so QR could keep prices high.
Not even sure what the point is Oman feeding QR. No one wants to fly an extra stop through Oman on narrowbody. The reality is that the Gulf carrier region is heavily oversaturated. The US can barely sustain the # of carriers we have with the current geographical size and population, yet each of them have hundreds of widebodies.
Oman Air suffered from inconsistency in policy, plans and management. Most of the time, Airline was headed by incompetent people, who came to the top not because of proven calibre, but due to their affinity to the decision makers. They should have maintained the business model they followed till early 2000, with focus on key markets, that provided connectivity and support to the tourism sector.
There are strong ties to QR. Oman even operates one of QR's flights from DOH-CMB. I imagine this MIGHT actually be a result of joining One World and aligning closer with QR to be a niche carrier to Oman and offer more feed to DOH.
This is correct, and a few more of the 330s will move to QR and operate certain flights till further notice.
Oman is a niche destination and the airline is just yawn. Like what is their USP? Connectivity? Luxe? Fares? Oman as a destination? Business destination?All weak points for Oman Air. Empty lounges and high overheads as a result. Thoughtless spending on 5-6 hr flights - that’s not lounge haul! lol. PHL - SFO is 6.5 hrs with headwinds these days. Don’t need 2 meals and Jammie’s and what not. It’s Gulf Air with a different name - time for a serious rethink.
EK routinely sells out F on some of its six-hour routes, it’s not a question of ‘need’, it’s a question of what passengers are willing to pay for. Having said that, I agree Oman Air’s premium business class doesn’t make economic sense and is probably massively loss making other than on a couple of routes like LHR, CDG, FRA etc.
Oman is not the richest country in GCC but is richer than the US. Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman lack ambitions and leadership with long term plan and vision to expand their national airlines services. Foreign consulting firms always focus on collecting their consulting fees without taking an effort to understand their clients' cultures or caring about the end results. I am not convinced that Saudi Arabia will effectively compete with UAE and Qatar, despite pouring...
Oman is not the richest country in GCC but is richer than the US. Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman lack ambitions and leadership with long term plan and vision to expand their national airlines services. Foreign consulting firms always focus on collecting their consulting fees without taking an effort to understand their clients' cultures or caring about the end results. I am not convinced that Saudi Arabia will effectively compete with UAE and Qatar, despite pouring tens of billions of dollars pursuing that goal. Religious dogma, border security and leadership are a huge road block. Having
mega money helps tremendously but will not fulfill the ultimate goal.
"Oman is not the richest country in GCC"
Isn't it the poorest GCC country per capita? If not, then it's the second poorest, and by a wide margin from the 4 richer ones.
Oman isn't the richest country, and the pandemic hit their economy hard when oil prices crashed. So they do have an interest in making money and divesting stakes in state-owned assets as part of their Vision 2040.
It sounds like their 737s business class isn't as good as the FlyDubai business class, which has lie-flat beds (including on my recent flight from DXB-MCT, which isn't long enough for the bed to recline).
Aren't they joining OneWorld this year? Maybe leveraging OW carriers to reduce the number of planes they need going forward?
They must’ve just read your review LOL
I'm sure it factored into this, along with other bloggers.
They have an impact on the travel world.
Yeah, they saw Lucky's report and followed their plan based on that lol
"Oman Air paid money to figure this out [why it is not profitable]? Gosh, I really am in the wrong line if work, apparently."
Consultants are often like psychotherapists. They are brought in because organizations see the disfunction but can't see beyond their routine. They desperately want the ugly reality to go away, so they can concentrate on their routine. The world of airlines is littered with examples--we can start with Pan Am and go from there.
Too small to compete with the massive Middle East carriers
Oman Air have leased 10 slot pairs out of DXB to Saudia run flydeal for the S24 period.
Oman Air was slated to join ONEWORLD but with a shrinking fleet I do not understand why they would continue with those plans if their reach diminishes so much. Qatar Airways has been intertwined with Oman and unless there is something going on behind the scenes I really wonder why ONEWORLD even needs another carrier in that area when Qatar and RJordanian pretty much cover the region.
Qatar Oman Air 330 leases end in the end of March and the aircraft return to WY. So they will be retired as well.
QR extends the leases of the WY 330s and actually seems to be adding aircraft as there are more rotations then what is possible with the existing 4 air frames
Sad. That couch on the A330 looked interesting. Certainly unique.
I really wonder what oneworld partner award availability in WY first and business class will look like once WY joins the alliance in the second half of this year.
Quite a few of their A330s fly on behalf of Qatar Airways at the moment. Perhaps that agreement will come to an end? Or perhaps the entire Oman A330 fleet will now fly from Doha instead?