Qatar Airways is deepening its partnership with Oman Air. The two airlines are expanding their codeshare partnership to extend to over 80 destinations on the Qatar Airways network. This will allow the two airlines to offer more seamless travel options to passengers flying around the world.
Qatar Airways and Oman Air deepen partnership
Qatar Airways announced that the Oman Air code has been added to over 80 destinations in the airline’s network. Ranging from gateways in the US to destinations in Africa, Oman Air’s passengers will be able to book a single itinerary covering a journey on the two airlines.
Oman Air CEO Abdulaziz Al Raisi stated the following on the expansion:
Oman Air’s expanding partnership with Qatar Airways underscores the commitment of both airlines to provide their guests with more flights, more choice of destinations, and greater flexibility throughout their travels with us. For Oman Air and many airlines around the world, the key to post-pandemic recovery lies in strategic collaborations with industry partners and in identifying innovative route expansion opportunities as we navigate a constantly changing environment. Our longstanding cooperation with Qatar Airways— an airline that shares our commitment to product and service excellence— reflects a highly valued relationship and we look forward to growing our networks together.”
The most recent expansion of the partnership includes the placement of Oman Air’s code on 16 new routes. The new destinations bookable for Oman Air passengers are
- Turkey: Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Bodrum, Istanbul Sabiha, Izmir,
- Germany: Berlin, Munich
- Greece: Mykonos
- Russia: St. Petersburg
- Switzerland: Zurich
- USA: Atlanta, Seattle
- Nigeria: Abuja
- South Africa: Johannesburg
- Saudi Arabia: Gassim
The Oman Air-Qatar Airways partnership
Qatar Airways and Oman Air first began their partnership in 2000. Strengthening the strategic cooperation between the two airlines, Qatar Airways and Oman Air, started to build an expanded codeshare partnership in December.
Just a few months ago, the codeshare expansion placed Oman Air’s code on 65 destinations. This was a massive expansion from the three destinations the airlines codeshared on before.
The initial codeshare expansion from December covered points in Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, India, and the Middle East. Qatar Airways placed its code on Oman Air flights to six destinations in Africa and Asia.
Oman Air is the smaller airline of these two. However, the carrier does have some plans to grow and further its position. On order are Boeing 787 and 737 MAX jets that will help rejuvenate and expand the airline’s fleet.
Why the partnership works
Geographically speaking, Qatar Airways and Oman Air hubs are not too far apart. However, the strategic cooperation between the two airlines works. The biggest asset for both airlines is being able to market to more customers.
For example, Oman Air does not fly to South Africa. If a passenger needs to go from Muscat to Johannesburg, Oman Air cannot offer an easy, direct routing. However, with the Qatar Airways partnership, that passenger can fly Oman Air to Doha and then catch a Qatar Airways flight to a place like Johannesburg.
For Qatar Airways, this means access to more flyers – especially more Omani flyers. This means more people to keep its planes full and more opportunities to earn additional revenue. At a time like the crisis, access to as many passengers as possible is a huge deal for airlines. And, for carriers heavily reliant on connecting passengers – like Qatar Airways – partnerships such as this one help funnel more traffic to destinations where loads and yields might lag.
Whether in a crisis or beyond, airline partnerships are essential. No carrier can easily serve every point on the globe. Partnerships help expand that. With this new enhanced partnership with Oman Air, Qatar Airways becomes more relevant to Omani flyers, while Oman Air can market more options for its passengers to fly near and far.
Are you going to take advantage of the expanded Qatar Airways and Oman Air codeshare? Let us know in the comments!