May 19, 2003 12:53 AM
9258 Views
(Updated Oct 05, 2005 10:35 PM)
Since this is the very first review on Oman Air, i'll give a brief intro:
Oman Air, the national carrier of Sultanate of Oman is one of the fastest growing airlines in the Middle East. Having established in 1993,Oman Air is relatively new in the field of international aviation. With Muscat as its base,it flies to most of the major destinations in the Middle East and the sub continent with convenient connection flights to and from covering all its destinations.In India, Oman Air flies to Mumbai, Chennai, Cochin and Trivandrum.
Their surprisingly low prices tempted me to fly Oman Air. Having had a preconceived notion inside me that good things never come so economical, I was taken by surprise on my very first flight itself. The check in was smooth and the staff were courteous.
The aircraft belonging to new generation boeing 737-800 was very well maintained with comfortable seats and enough leg space in the economy class.(Be careful not to choose the row just before the emergency exits.These seats cant be reclined.).My flight was a single aisle flight and the seat configuration was 3-3.The seats had enough seat pitch and ample head support.Oman Air has plenty of ATR aircrafts( which are very small) too, which they operate on short haul destinations.
The young cabin crew were smiling and helpful.Most of them speak good English even though some had very heavy Arabic accent.The entertainment system was also pretty good.Even though the movies were shown on over head monitors, they were of good quality. On the audio side, they have a good collection of english & arabic channels and one hindi channel. They show latest bollywood/Tamil/Malayalam movies depending on the route to India.
They also provide you with good reading materials.Daily news papers in regional languages and English as well as magazines were distributed before the flight took off. The inflight magazine is also off good quality and provides good information about Oman.There is an onboard duty free also which offered some exquisite Omani stuff but the prices are pretty high as is the case with most airlines.
I had to transit through Seeb international airport in Muscat for my onward connection and I hardly had to spend half an hour there before boarding my connection flight.All my flights were on time and there was no hassles due to timing.The connections are also very convenient with very less waiting time.
The only disappointing factor comes in the form of food.The food served on all my flights with Oman Air were very bland and the quantity was also pretty less when compared with other major airlines.
On the whole, the flight was comfortable and very economical too. If you are a money cautious traveller looking for a comfortable journey, then you can definitely give Oman Air a try.
