SalamAir is set to expand its South Asia network over the coming weeks by bolstering direct connectivity between Oman and Pakistan.
The airline has confirmed the launch of a new route from Muscat International Airport to Peshawar’s Bacha Khan International Airport from Oct. 2, operating two flights per week on Mondays and Thursdays. Reservations have now opened for the 1,073-mi. (932-nm) service, which will utilize Airbus A320neo aircraft.
Peshawar is the sixth-largest city in Pakistan, with a population of more than 2.3 million. It is situated in the northwest of the country and currently has one nonstop link to Oman through Pakistan International Airlines’ 2X-weekly service to Muscat.
According to data from OAG Schedules Analyser, SalamAir is also planning to further bolster its Pakistan network in October by launching four other new routes and offering frequency enhancements on three more. However, reservations for these additional services have yet to open.
The latest schedules suggest the LCC plans to inaugurate flights connecting Muscat with Islamabad from Oct. 1, operating five times per week. Flights to Lahore and southwestern Pakistan's Quetta are scheduled to commence two days later, followed by service to Faisalabad from Oct. 5. SalamAir’s plans include three roundtrips per week to Lahore and 2X-weekly services to Quetta and Faisalabad.
Additionally, frequencies on SalamAir’s three existing routes to Karachi, Multan and Sialkot are also set to rise. Each operate 3X-weekly at present, but Karachi and Sialkot are scheduled to increase to 5X-weekly and Multan to 4X-weekly.
SalamAir began flying to Pakistan in December 2017 with service to Karachi and Sialkot and added Multan two months later. A small number of repatriation flights to Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar were also provided during the pandemic.
If the airline operates its October schedule as planned, its Oman-Pakistan capacity will rise from 3,640 two-way weekly seats at present to more than 10,500. This will give the LCC a 43% seat capacity share between the two countries, up from 20% now.
The proposed expansion comes fewer than three months after aviation officials from Oman and Pakistan met to discuss plans to increase travel between the two countries. The talks included proposals to start flights from Muscat to Karachi and southwestern port city Gwadar.
Oman is home to a large Pakistani community, estimated to be more than 200,000 people. SalamAir’s new services will therefore likely attract flows of VFR traffic and migrant labor.
On Aug. 8, it was reported that Oman’s flag-carrier Oman Air is to undergo a restructuring process that will see it integrated with SalamAir, which is also state owned. SalamAir CEO Mohamed Ahmed told Aviation Week that he had no further information on the proposals, but said that discussions had taken place earlier this year on greater cooperation between the two carriers.
He added that he hoped meetings scheduled for later this week would clarify matters.
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