The Sultanate of Oman is renowned for its untouched natural beauty‚ with landscapes ranging from magnificent mountain ranges to wadis (dry river beds) to 1‚700km of beautiful coastlines. Oman’s rich cultural history features traditional forts and souqs scattered across the Sultanate‚ while our natural environment offers incredible flora and fauna. Along with year-round sunshine and unsurpassed warmth and hospitality of the local people‚ it is easy to see why Oman is emerging as a globally competitive tourism destination. The country is ruled by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said‚ who recognises the importance of the tourism industry and is committed to supporting growth of the sector. The Government has a long-term plan for economic diversity‚ aiming for the contribution to the economy by tourism related activities to grow from 6.7 per cent of GDP in 2010 to 9.2 per cent of GDP by 2020. This is set out in Vision Oman 2020‚ the blue print for the country’s economic success.

Within this framework the Government is committed to a comprehensive Airport development plan for the whole Country. The plan includes the extension of the Capital’s Muscat International Airport wich is going to be the main access gate to the Sultanate. Muscat Airport has today a traffic of more tha 10 mil pax/year registering a two digit increase for several years to date. Muscat Airport development plan includes a new parallel runway and a new state of the art Terminal building aimed to handle a traffic of  48 mil./pax year expected in about 15 years. The first stage of the devlopment plan will be completed by 2014 comprising the new runway and the new ATC tower. Salalah Airport, the country’s second busiest airport is also undergoing a huge renovation with a new runway and brand new passenger terminal building being biult. Works planned to be completed by end of 2014. Also regional airports are undergoing major works: Sohar, Duqum, Sur and Ras Al Had.