The Oman Air - Emergency Response & Planning (ERP) Department conducted the 3rd 'Emergency Response Planning Outstation Workshop' recently. This workshop was attended by 75 Oman Air employees, who came to Muscat from GCC and Middle East, Far East, Africa, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Milan.
The previous two Workshops conducted during 2010 were in London-Bracknell, in the UK, for Oman Air's regional staff in Europe and another one in Mumbai, India for the Oman Air staff in the Indian Stations.
The keynote speech was delivered by Philippe Georgiou - Chief Officer Corporate Affairs, who explained to the participants the importance of an organization to be prepared to handle crisis situations in the most effective and efficient way.
Don Hunter - Chief Officer Airport Operations, highlighted the value of Emergency Response Planning (ERP) based on many of the past incidents of other airlines.
Training on Station Emergency Response Planning was conducted by Himali Setunge - Manager Emergency Response & Planning which was followed by 'Aviation Security Training' by Security Department's Senior Officers - Mubarak Al Jahdhami and Rashid Al Harthy.
Michael White, from Kenyon International Emergency Services conducted a training presentation on Kenyon's Support to Oman Air for managing station response which was followed by a table top exercise and a brain storming session.
Yaqoob Al Aufi - Oman Air Muscat, Airport Services Manager, who was a delegate at this workshop commented, - "I am glad I attended this workshop. All the presentations were very practical and direct, that helped in educating our network Airport Services Managers to know their responsibilities and role on this crucial subject."
This training concludes the first of the five phases of the Station Emergency Response Plan implementation process. The second phase involves preparation of a plan customised for each station as per the ERP guidelines. The third and fourth phases would comprise of a review of the draft plan submitted by the ERP Department and the various Station Management. The implementation of the station-wise ER plan followed by staff training by the ERP Officials will take place in the final phase.
-Ends-
About Oman Air
Oman Air is the flagship carrier of the Sultanate of Oman. Founded in 1993, the airline has since witnessed massive growth and has played a major role in making Muscat an important traffic hub in the Middle East, supporting the commercial, industrial and tourism sectors.
The airline currently operates direct international flights from Muscat to Gulf destinations, such as Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Riyadh, Kuwait and Al Ain. Within the Middle East region, Oman Air flies to Cairo in Egypt, Beirut in Lebanon and Amman in Jordan.
In addition, Oman Air flies to ten destinations in India - Mumbai, Chennai, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, Delhi, Lucknow, Bangalore, Kozhikode and Jaipur. Within the Subcontinent, Oman Air also flies to Chittagong in Bangladesh, Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore in Pakistan and Colombo in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, Oman Air flies to the Indian Ocean islands of the Maldives. Within the Far East, Oman Air destinations include Bangkok in Thailand and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
Among its European destinations are: London in the United Kingdom, Munich and Frankfurt in Germany and Paris in France. Oman Air also flies to Zanzibar and Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania.
In September 2010, Oman Air commenced operations to Dammam in Saudi Arabia, and Kathmandu in Nepal. Milan, Italy, was latest addition to the expanding network of Oman Air destinations.
Oman Air's fleet consists of Boeing 737 and Airbus A330s. Currently, the fleet strength stands at 15 B737-700s/800s, three A330-200s, three A330-300s, two Embraer E 175s and two ATRs 42-500. During 2011, one additional A330-200 will be delivered.
For the future Oman Air has ordered 6 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, which are scheduled for delivery in 2014.
Oman Air unveiled its First Class Mini Suite in October 2009 which marked a further milestone in Oman Air's ongoing drive for quality and comfort. Earlier in 2009, Oman Air had unveiled its new,
lie-flat Business Class seat, which offers greater levels of comfort and amenity than many other airlines' first class products and is fitted on all the new Airbus wide-body fleet.
Marking a pioneering milestone in the history of aviation, Oman Air has become the first airline in the world to offer both mobile telephony and Internet connectivity on board its flights.
Oman Air and Malaysia Airlines entered a code-share partnership in June 2010, opening up more international destinations to their customers. Oman Air's passengers, who currently enjoy direct flights to Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, will now be connected to 4 new destinations in Malaysia - Langkawi, Kota Kinabalu, Penang, Kuching, and 2 new destinations in Asia - Singapore and Hong Kong. In turn, passengers flying from Kula-Lumpur to Muscat will be able to connect seamlessly to Amman and Kuwait City, with more options from Oman to Dubai and Beirut as well.
More recently Oman Air entered a code-share partnership with British Midlands International (BMI) announced a code-share agreement that will allow Oman Air's customers to book flights from Oman's capital of Muscat to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Belfast or Manchester, via London Heathrow. BMI's customers will be able to book flights from any of the airline's UK departure points through to Muscat. The code-share agreement is effective since 1st April 2011 and customers will be able to book flights through either Oman Air or BMI outlets.
© Press Release 2011
