New passenger terminal at Oman’s Duqm airport begins operations

The new passenger terminal at Oman’s Duqm International Airport has received its first after beginning operations on Monday.

Terminal B officially began commercial operations at 1:30pm. An Oman Air service from Muscat, WY935, was the first flight to arrive at 2:30pm.

Following this, the first flight to depart will be return service WY936 at 5:00pm, the Ministry of Transport and Communications said.

A video posted on Twitter showed WY935 being greeted with a water canon salute upon arrival.

وصول أولى الرحلات إلى مبنى المسافرين الجديد ل #مطار_الدقم pic.twitter.com/GrcqA4yOWU

— وزارة النقل والاتصالات – سلطنة عمان (@motc_om) September 17, 2018

The terminal building spans 8,660sqm and has a capacity for 500,000 passengers annually, with the potential to expand to two million. Facilities include restaurants and retail outlets.

Prior to launch, airport staff conducted 45 days of testing.

Read: Oman says new Duqm airport terminal to open next month

The project forms part of a series of airport upgrade and expansion works underway in Oman.

In March a new passenger terminal opened at Muscat International Airport with a capacity for 12 million passengers a year.

Read: Video: Muscat’s new airport readies for first flights

Duqm itself, on Oman’s southern coast, is being transformed from a fishing village to an industrial and transshipment centre designed to support the sultanate’s economic diversification efforts.

Current facilities include a port and dry dock, with an oil refinery and petrochemical facility also under construction with Kuwaiti investment.

Read: Kuwait Petroleum, Oman Oil form JV for $7bn Duqm Refinery

The project is also backed by China under its ‘belt and road’ initiative. Chinese consortium Oman Wanfang is aiming to invest up to $10.7bn in the project, chief executive Ali Shah told Reuters last September.

Read: Oman counts on Chinese billions to build mega city at Duqm