Oman Air is looking forward to taking full advantage of the new cargo facility at Muscat International Airport to propel itself forward in the air freight sector.

The new cargo terminal, which began operations alongside the opening of the new passenger terminal in Muscat in March 2018, was officially inaugurated in July. It is substantially larger than its predecessor and features a 22,780-square-metre, air-conditioned warehouse with the capacity to handle 350,000 tonnes of cargo per year.

“We had a transition period and as with any transition there were some teething issues, but generally everything went very smoothly and the process was quick,” said Mohammed Al Musafir, senior vice president of commercial cargo at Oman Air. “That’s largely because of the synergy between us and the handling company Oman Air SATS at our hub in Muscat. A lot of hard work has been put into providing a high-quality service. That will be further enhanced with the new facility when it comes to products, such as valuables, express, hazardous materials and temperature-controlled products.”

The facility features 367 pallet or 734 container storage positions over three levels, 2,208 skidded pallet positions, elevating transfer vehicles, six bulk cold rooms, ULD cold rooms with 28 chiller pallet positions and eight freezer pallet positions, X-ray machines, a 2,500-square-metre live animal centre, a 228-square-metre dangerous goods room and a vulnerable goods cage with 264 pallet positions.

Other handling units include a diplomatic room, a human remains room, a radioactive room and a strong room. Additionally, the facility features three parking bays that can accommodate Code F freighter aircraft, 25 40-foot-truck parking bays, as well as 34 truck docks and 400 car parking bays.

The entire terminal is supported by 24-hour services for import and export cargo, along with an automated cargo system for documentation and warehousing, export cargo acceptance and import cargo delivery.

Oman Air, like other carriers, is looking seriously at what it can do to better serve the rapidly rising e-commerce sector.

“This is a good business for us, especially when you look at our percentages out of India, for example,” said Al Musafir. “We hope to provide a better express service. We already carry many of these products but the service hasn’t yet been marketed as a separate category. Now that the new terminal is up and running, we will be doing that soon.”

With the improved cool chain capabilities of the new cargo terminal, Oman Air is also looking to ramp up its offering in the transportation of temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical shipments.

“Certifications for carriage of temperature-controlled items as per industry standards will be next,” Al Musafir said. “We are working on this for completion during 2019 so we can make sure that there is an end-to-end solution for our customers.”

Oman Air’s fleet currently consists of four Airbus A330-200s, six A330-300s, 21 Boeing 737-800s, five 737-900s, five 737 MAX 8s, four 787-8s, four 787-9s and four Embraer E175s. The airline is focused on expanding organically with the belly space on its growing passenger fleet.

The airline’s destination network is expanding too, with a daily 737 MAX 8 flight to Istanbul having launched in June and a four-times-weekly 787-8 flight to Casablanca from July 1, 2018. A daily service to Moscow is due to begin on October 28 with a 737 MAX 8.

In Asia Pacific, which accounts for 34% of Oman Air Cargo’s business and where the carrier grew 102% in 2017, Oman Air flies thrice-daily to Bangkok with a 787, twice-daily to Kuala Lumpur with an A330, daily to Jakarta with a 787, daily to Manila with an A330 and four times weekly to Guangzhou with an A330.

“The objective is to become a niche carrier as our network gradually expands,” said Al Musafir. “We’re a medium-sized carrier expanding gradually and with whatever we carry, we want to carry it in the best possible way so the premium business is taken care of. A lot of customers like to deal with us because we’re smaller sized and can give them more attention and personalized care.”

Another initiative aimed at improving the customer experience is an upcoming mobile app which will allow users to track their shipments in a user-friendly way, supplementing the new cloud-based cargo management system implemented by SmartKargo in October last year.

Oman Air Cargo posted a 38% year-on-year increase in business for 2017, compared to a 5% increase in 2016. In the first half of 2018, the carrier registered a year-on-year growth of 25%.

“For 2018, we’re optimistic that we can achieve some good figures,” Al Musafir said. “We’ve already made a good start and hopefully we’ll have some solid growth over 2017 as a whole.”

By Jeffrey Lee

Asia Cargo News | Hong Kong