Following the Omani government’s decision to increase its shareholding in Oman Air, the management has been chalking out plans for new aircrafts, new destinations, new routes, and other modernisation initiatives. Oman Aviation Services ( Oman Air) held its Extraordinary General Meeting and General Meeting at the Grand Hyatt Muscat, where a new seven-member board was publicised.

In this regard, Mr Ziad Bin Karim Al Haremi said, ‘The 3rd of July was a historical day for Oman Aviation Services ( Oman Air). A new Board assumed the responsibilities of elevating our Company to new heights. The composition of the new Board of Directors is as follows;

HE Ahmed bin Abdulnabi Macki, Minister of National Economy & Deputy Chairman of Financial Affairs & Energy Resources Council (Chairman); HE Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Harthy, Minister of Transport and Communications (Vice Chairman); HE Lt Gen Malik bin Sulaiman Al Maamari, Inspector General of Police and Customs; HE Darwish bin Ismail al Balushi, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Finance; HE Mohammed bin Hamdan al Toobi, Tourism Ministry Under-Secretary; HE Said Bin Hamdoon Al Harthy representing Ministry of Transport and Communications ( Under-Secretary ); and Mohammed Al Barwani, a renowned Omani businessman, who was elected to represent the private shareholders.

Chief Executive Officer, Ziad Karim Al Haremi said, ‘This is a very high level Board of Directors that speaks volumes by itself, and shows the Government’s level of commitment towards Oman Air. He added that the first Board meeting took place and the Board approved Oman Air’s immediate plans to acquire additional Boeing 737’s, and an additional A330’s. The Company fleet will consist by the end of 2011 of - Boeing 737-800 - 10 Aircrafts (By end March 09), and Airbus A330 9 Aircrafts (Mix of dash 300 & dash 200).

‘The above numbers of aircraft are not the end of it, but merely the beginning. The Management is actively preparing a 5 Year plan while an International consultancy firm will be engaged to prepare a 20-year plan. Once the plans are ready and approved by the Board, the actual number of aircrafts will be known then. We will invite Boeing and Airbus to discuss Boeing 787 and Airbus 350 respectively. This is where we are heading, the latest aircraft with the latest In-flight Entertainment Systems. We are going to three Class configurations on some of our future long haul routes. Concurrent with this ambitious growth plan, the airline aims to embark on a major restructuring and rebranding initiative, Al Haremi added. “For the rebranding we have invited a few companies to come forward with their creative ideas, and once we see something that meets our expectations, then they will do a full fledged job on rebranding. That is going on across the board, starting from business cards and going all the way to aircraft. ’ The CEO said.

He concluded, ‘Only yesterday it was a dream for us to be the only National carrier for the Sultanate of Oman. The dream became a reality. Only yesterday, it was an aspiration to have wide body long haul operations. This is soon becoming a reality. Oman Air’s CEO acknowledged finally long haul operations to London and Bangkok to start with as soon as November of this year, if not sooner.
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