Article from BTNews 6 MARCH 2017
Oman in the spotlight
With advanced planning under way for daily services between Manchester and Muscat from 1 May, Oman Air has also been celebrating another first with the arrival of a Boeing 787-9 to join the fleet.
The stretch version of the Dreamliner joins four 787-8s and has a two-cabin layout with 30 lie-flat seats in Business Class and 258 in Economy, compared to 18 Business Class and 249 Economy seats in the smaller model.
A second 787-9 is scheduled to join the fleet next month and like its predecessor will be used on the carrier’s European and Far Eastern routes and Oman Air is expected to lease three more B787-9s from Air Lease Corporation with delivery from 2018 to 2020.
Meanwhile, bookings for the new Manchester operation, the only direct service to Muscat from the UK outside London, have exceeded expectations, according to Oman Air manager UK/Ireland Simon Cook.
Cook admitted that, unlike other Middle Eastern carriers, Oman Air had “flown under the radar” till now but added: "We have to up the game and get out there. We are a quality 5-star airline but people don't know anything about us."
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