Review: Oman Air Business Lounge Muscat Airport (MCT)

During my downgraded adventure to Oman, I had a roughly seven hour layover at Muscat Airport. I was arriving from Milan in Oman Air’s 787 business class, and flying to Frankfurt in Oman Air’s A330 business class.

I spent my layover in both the Oman Air Business Lounge and Oman Air First Lounge, and in this installment I’ll be reviewing the former. The Oman Air Business Lounge Muscat is excellent — it has a unique design, plenty of amenities, an extensive selection of food, and it feels a bit more boutique than the lounges of some other Gulf carriers (for better or worse). Let’s get into the review.

Oman Air Business Lounge Muscat location

Since I was arriving on a flight, I first had to clear transit security to get to the lounge. To be honest, that wasn’t a terribly seamless experience. There was a fast track area to scan your boarding pass to get into the transit security line, but then you just had to get into the standard line. The line moved slowly, with a lot of passengers not being very respectful of others.

Once you’re in the departures area, the Oman Air Business Lounge is located in the central area of the terminal, right by all the duty free shopping. You’ll need to go up a level to the fifth floor, as the departures level of the terminal is on the fourth floor. Then you’ll see a circular walkway where you can access the Aerotel, the Primeclass Lounge, and the Oman Air Lounge.

The lounge sure has a snazzy exterior!

Oman Air Business Lounge Muscat hours

The Oman Air Business Lounge Muscat is open 24/7, reflecting that Gulf airports have flights all hours of the day and night.

Oman Air’s network is heavily banked, so you can expect the lounge to be busiest in the middle of the night and early morning, when there are lots of departures. Meanwhile the lounge tends to be quite empty in the late mornings, and in the afternoons and evenings.

Oman Air Business Lounge Muscat entry requirements

The Oman Air Business Lounge Muscat is open to Oman Air business class passengers, as well as Sindbad Gold and Silver members traveling on international flights.

Keep in mind that Oman Air is expected to join the oneworld alliance soon, and at that point the lounge would follow standard oneworld lounge access policies. This would mean that all oneworld first and business class passengers, as well as oneworld Emerald and Sapphire members, would have access to the lounge.

Note that this lounge isn’t open to Priority Pass members. However, the adjacent Primeclass Lounge is open to those passengers, and it’s one of my favorite Priority Pass lounges in the world.

Oman Air Business Lounge Muscat layout & seating

Many airport lounges primarily consist of one, big rectangular room, though the Oman Air Business Lounge Muscat is exactly the opposite. The lounge is winding, and has all kinds of distinct areas. I can’t think of another lounge that’s partitioned into so many little seating zones quite like this one.

One of the larger areas of the lounge stretches along the windows. This is where you’ll find rows of seats arranged in rows facing one another, some high-top seating, as well as the bar.

At the end of this section of the lounge, you’ll find some workstations with iMacs.

Off of this long part of the lounge are the two main dining areas, which are both circular rooms. It’s nice how the lounge has two separate dining areas, since it distributes passengers a bit, especially since a lot of people are looking to eat during a layover.

The first dining area is perhaps a bit larger…

…though the second dining area is large as well, and even has an open kitchen.

Earlier I mentioned how the lounge really winds, and I think the below pictures explain that better than I can do in words.

The Oman Air Business Lounge also has solid rest facilities. There’s a room in the back that has a relaxation area, with seven angled daybeds that have curtains around them.

There are also four private nap rooms. These aren’t proper bedrooms, but they are at least fully flat daybeds that have doors, so they’re good for getting some rest.

The lounge also has a play area for kids, as well as a family room, though the family room is basically just a standard seating area separated from the rest of the lounge.

Lastly, the Oman Air Lounge has a Shangri-La Spa, which is located one level up from a lounge, and can be accessed via stairs or an elevator. However, the spa was closed for “maintenance” during my visit, and apparently that lasted some number of weeks. The treatments aren’t complimentary for business class passengers, and you can find the menu here.

Oman Air Business Lounge Muscat food & drinks

The Oman Air Business Lounge Muscat has both a bar, as well as two separate dining areas.

The bar area is elegant, and is the only place in the lounge where alcohol is available, so you can come here to order a glass of wine, a beer, a cocktail, or a barista coffee.

Below you can find the cocktail list that’s available at the bar.

The two dining areas had similar food available, so I checked that out over breakfast hours. Note that during peak periods there may be some more fresh options available.

The buffet has a fancy DIY Nespresso machine, which is definitely above average for machine espresso drinks, though I’d still recommend getting a barista coffee at the bar.

There was also a selection of Twinnings tea, as well as Omani coffee and dates.

The cold breakfast selection included yogurt, laban, cold cuts, cheese, all kinds of pastries, muffins, and bread, cereal, and both sliced and whole fruit.

There were also half a dozen hot options, including french toast, egg bites, mushrooms, rice, and more.

Oman Air Business Lounge Muscat bathrooms & showers

The Oman Air Business Lounge Muscat has a couple of sets of bathrooms, which are constantly cleaned (which is kind of needed, given the bidet toilet situation here, and some people not having good aim). The bathrooms feel quite luxurious for airport lounge bathrooms, and even have proper hand towels.

One of the lounge’s bathrooms also has four shower rooms inside of it. While the shower rooms have nice finishes, they’re pretty basic, and there are no private toilets in the shower rooms.

Bottom line

The Oman Air Business Lounge Muscat is an impressive flagship lounge for a boutique airline. The lounge has lots of different seating options, a pretty good selection of food and drinks, nice relaxation and nap areas, and friendly service. It’s an enjoyable place for a layover.

Admittedly the region is home to some of the world’s best business class lounges, including the Emirates Business Lounge Dubai, Etihad Business Lounge Abu Dhabi, and Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business Lounge Doha.

What do you make of the Oman Air Business Lounge Muscat?