Review: Oman Air First 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 latter. The reason I had access to this lounge is because I was supposed to fly to Frankfurt in first class, but was downgraded due to an aircraft swap. In light of this, I was still granted access to the Oman Air First Lounge.

Okay, I’ve gotta be honest, the Oman Air First Lounge Muscat utterly fascinates me. It makes absolutely no sense in any way. This is a big lounge for the airline with one of the world’s smallest first class footprints. I don’t understand why Oman Air has such a big first class lounge, but I had the entire thing to myself for my whole visit.

This is a fantastic lounge, in all honesty, with personalized service, chef prepared meals, and more. Let’s get into the review.

Oman Air First Lounge Muscat location

Once in the departures area, the Oman Air 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 entrance covers both sections of the lounge, so if you have access to the first class section, you’ll be escorted there, as the door is hidden, and is right behind reception.

Oman Air First Lounge Muscat hours

The Oman Air First Lounge Muscat is open 24/7, reflecting that Gulf airports have flights all hours of the day and night. Though to be honest, no matter what time of day you’re in this lounge, you’ll find it to be empty.

Oman Air First Lounge Muscat entry requirements

The Oman Air First Lounge is exclusively open to passengers traveling in Oman Air first class. This consists of a very small fleet:

• Oman Air has two Boeing 787-9s each with eight first class seats, which consistently fly to London (LHR), and also sometimes serve other destinations, like Bangkok (BKK)
• Oman Air has two Airbus A330-300s with six first class seats, which sometimes fly to Frankfurt (FRA) and Kuala Lumpur (KUL); however, the airline often doesn’t even assign these planes to routes where it sells first class

Honestly, it makes no economic sense for Oman Air to offer first class, as the airline sells so few first class seats, even on its London route. As mentioned above, I was in the lounge for around six hours (including just prior to the London flight), and there wasn’t a single other passenger.

One interesting consideration is that Oman Air is expected to join the oneworld alliance soon. In theory, oneworld lounge access policies allow oneworld Emerald members to access first class lounges. However, lounges can choose to be excluded from this arrangement, so we’ll see what Oman Air does.

In terms of utilizing space efficiently, it seems to me like Oman Air should let oneworld Emerald members into its first class lounge. Then again, when the airline doesn’t even allow its own top tier elites into this lounge, perhaps it’s not such a slam dunk.

Oman Air First Lounge Muscat layout & seating

The Oman Air First Lounge Muscat is quite large. By my count, the lounge has over 75 seats, and I can’t imagine this lounge ever gets more than a dozen passengers (and that would probably be the lounge’s absolute record crowding level, as usually there is just one or two people in here, at most).

Anyway, as you enter the lounge, you’ll find a variety of seating arrangements, typically with four or so chairs surrounding a coffee table. The decor is blingy, though I also appreciate the attention to detail in the design, as it really is a beautiful space. Like, I wouldn’t want to decorate my home this way, but I think it’s a good reflection of Omani design.

Personally I’d recommend sitting deeper in the lounge, where you’ll find a lot more natural light, thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows. This area of the lounge has the beautiful bar with six stools, four dining tables, and then rows of seats arranged in rows, facing one another.

The back corner of the lounge also has a living room-style area, plus some a workstation with an iMac.

Oman Air First Lounge Muscat food & drinks

The Oman Air First Lounge Muscat has extremely customized service, with quite a few food and drink options. The second I arrived in the lounge, I was welcomed by Charlotte, the lovely host who would be taking care of me. She was the only person who was working in the lounge, but then again, I was the only passenger, so I’d say a 1:1 staff to passenger ratio seems acceptable. 😉

As soon as I settled in, Charlotte presented me with the menu.

She also brought me a tray of snacks, with all kinds of nuts, dried fruit, dates, and chocolates.

To kick off my stay in the lounge, she prepared me a beautiful cappuccino, which even had the Oman Air logo stenciled onto it with cinnamon.

A few minutes later, the chef appeared to welcome me, introduce the dining concept, and to tell me that he’d be happy to prepare a meal whenever. Below is a look at the breakfast and all-day dining menu.

Then below you can find the drink list, including champagne, red and white wine, beer, spirits, soft drinks, coffee, and more.

I decided to eat later during my visit, at around lunchtime. To start, I ordered the mezze with hummus, shanklish, moutabal, fried labneh balls, and tropical fruit salsa, though I asked for it without the lamb kibbeh.

For my main course, I ordered the chargrilled salmon with balsamic star anise reduction, with mashed parmesan potatoes, sautéed spinach, bell peppers, and carrots. I would have ordered the king prawn machboos, except that’s exactly the dish I had on my previous flight.

Lastly, for dessert I had the chocolate and mango sorbet, with berries.

The level of personalization was great, and Charlotte and the chef were both so friendly. I’d say the food was good but not amazing, as I didn’t think the food was much better than on the plane.

Oman Air First Lounge Muscat bathrooms & showers

The Oman Air First Lounge Muscat has bathrooms and showers, located in the back of the lounge, near the bar area. The bathroom area consisted of two sinks and three bathroom stalls.

The bathrooms felt super luxe, and even had Amouage amenities. They were also meticulously clean, but you’d kind of expect that, given that there was no one else using the bathroom.

On top of that, the lounge has a single shower suite, with a sink, a toilet, and a walk-in shower.

Oman Air First Lounge Muscat nap room

The Oman Air First Lounge has two nap rooms, named Muscat and Salalah.

These are private rooms, though unfortunately aren’t proper bedrooms. They each feature a daybed with an ottoman and a TV, plus a drink and snack basket.

This is a nice facility if you’re looking to get some rest, though it’s not necessarily the most comfortable sleeping setup in the world, should you have a longer layover.

Oman Air First Lounge Muscat spa

The Oman Air Lounge Muscat has a Shangri-La Spa. This can be accessed through the business class lounge, as there’s a staircase from that lounge leading up to the spa. First class passengers are entitled to a complimentary 15-minute spa treatment.

I wish I could have taken advantage of this, though unfortunately the spa was closed for “maintenance” during my visit, so I wasn’t able to check it out.

Bottom line

The Oman Air First Lounge Muscat is a comfortable, exclusive facility. The lounge is huge (given how few people have access to it), and has a nice bar and dining area, nap rooms, personalized service, a large selection of drinks, and a la carte dining.

The economics of this lounge — or of Oman Air first class overall, for that matter — make no sense. But still, visiting this lounge is such a treat. What other first class lounge anywhere in the world can you visit for six hours, and have all to yourself?

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