MUSCAT: Eng Said bin Hamoud al Maawali, Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, said there is no merger between Oman Air and SalamAir, amidst widespread social media speculation, adding that what is being discussed is a government-led purchase/acquisition — not an operational merger.

In an exclusive interview with the Observer, Al Maawali drew a clear distinction between “merger” and “acquisition”, saying the transaction being considered would be a purchase by the government, not by Oman Air. He said more details would be announced “soon”.

Separately, the minister said an issue that had driven up aircraft-fuel costs at Salalah Airport has been resolved, following lengthy discussions that concluded around two weeks ago. The issue dates back to a tender launched by Oman Airports to operate aviation-fuel services at Salalah and other airports.

Al Maawali said costs were inflated by a complex supply chain involving multiple transport and handling stages: fuel is sourced from Sohar Refinery, shipped to storage at Port of Salalah, then moved by truck to airport tanks before being pumped into aircraft — adding shipping, storage and handling expenses.

He argued that pricing could have been structured across airport contracts in a way that offsets lower traffic at Salalah with discounts linked to higher-volume airports such as Muscat International Airport, rather than treating each location in isolation.

REGIONAL AIRCRAFT PLAN AND NEW ROUTES

On network development, Al Maawali said work is under way on deploying smaller regional aircraft to activate under-served domestic destinations, namely Al Jabal Al Akhdhar, Masirah, Khasab and Suhar.

He added that connectivity plans also include expanding regional links from specific airports: direct services from Salalah to Saudi Arabia, with potential later stages extending to Somalia and Yemen. From Suhar, he said the aim is to connect to Taif and Al Ahsa, as well as Shiraz, Bandar Abbas and Gwadar.

The remarks come as Oman looks to reduce operating costs in aviation services while improving inter-governorate and regional air links to support tourism and business travel.

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