Oman: New terminal opens at Muscat International Airport March 20

Event

A new passenger terminal opened at Muscat International Airport (MCT) on Tuesday, March 20. The opening of the new USD 1.8 billion (OMR 690 million) terminal reportedly boosts passenger capacity to 12 million per year up from 1.2 million travelers in 2017. Additionally, it will allow MCT to accommodate 40 flights per hour. The project also included the construction of a new runway, civil aviation building, and air traffic control tower.

Context

The completion of MCT's new terminal, which started construction in December 2014, comes amid a decline in oil revenues and reserves in the Sultanate in recent years. It is part of a plan to diversify the Omani economy and grow the tourism sector. The increasing difficulty for the Omani public sector to provide employment opportunities amid lower oil revenues has accompanied growing rates of youth unemployment in the country (from 45.7 percent in 2014 to 48.7 in 2017, per World Bank data) and government initiatives for Omanis to work in private sector industries, such as tourism. Oman has invested billions of dollars into the tourism industry, opening numerous hotels to lure high-income tourists to the country.