Muscat Airport sees a drop in international passengers in March

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Muscat: Muscat Airport saw a drop in the number of international passengers in March compared to the previous months of 2026.

The number of international passengers arriving at Oman's main airport dropped from 1,189,938 in January 2026 to 939,921 in February and 728,588, according to the National Center for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

Overall, the number of international passengers using the airport in three months of 2026 dropped by 2.4 percent to 2,857,817 from 2,929,495 in 2025.

The number of flights operating at the Muscat International Airport also dropped from 7,594 in January to 5,515 in March.

While Oman's airspace, airports, and airlines were not affected by the closure of the ongoing conflict in Iran, the services to some destinations in the region had to be suspended.

Eng Said bin Hamoud al Maawali, Minister of Transport, Communications, and Information Technology (MTCIT), recently told the Observer that the ongoing confrontation in the region will have an impact on both the national airlines, Oman Air and SalamAir.

He said, "The overall aviation sector is going through a change at the moment because of what's happening in the region, which includes an increase in fuel prices, which will affect both airlines, while there will also be fierce competition for the last remaining passengers that want to travel to the region.

He said, "We need to make sure that we have the service at the top-notch level and make sure that we do this while we also control our costs."