Oman Air announced a new partnership with Fun&Sun, one of the companies specializing in organizing tourist trips in Russia, to operate a number of charter flights directly linking Moscow and Salalah.
This initiative is expected to help attract about 7,000 additional visitors to Salalah during the first season of the program, providing qualitative support to efforts to develop domestic tourism and helping to stimulate economic activity in Dhofar Governorate. This may pave the way for extending the charter program to become available year-round as a result of the strong expected demand, according to a press release published on the Oman Air website.
Fun&Sun is one of the most active travel companies with the highest business volumes, and this partnership reinforces the growing interest in the Sultanate as an attractive tourist destination in the Russian market, alongside the operation of the new charter flights.
Oman Air continues to operate its scheduled flights between Muscat and Moscow with 9 direct flights per week, ensuring year-round connectivity to serve both business travelers and tourists.
Mike Rutter, Chief Commercial Officer at Oman Air, explained that this partnership with Fun&Sun comes to expand access to Salalah from one of our most important and fastest-growing international markets.
He added that this program not only complements our regular services between Muscat and Moscow, but also underlines the appeal of Dhofar Governorate throughout the year, not only during the Khareef season.
He stated that since the start of the company's transformation plan, we have focused on boosting the growth of direct flights, which has increased the number of direct passengers and those staying in the Sultanate by more than 50%. This change is expected to yield an economic return of up to 90 million Omani rials annually over the next five years.
He noted that launching additional direct flights from Europe to Salalah reflects Oman Air's commitment to supporting the tourism agenda of Oman Vision 2040 and increasing the aviation sector's contribution to GDP.
For his part, Yaroslav Stepanyuk, Commercial Director of Fun&Sun, said that the launch of this cooperation with Oman Air, together with the appeal of Dhofar Governorate and its natural assets, will make it a major destination for Russian tourists within a short period.
The seasonal charter flights between Moscow and Salalah are scheduled to operate from December 26, 2025, until May 9, 2026. Meanwhile, Oman Air continues its joint efforts with the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism and Dhofar Municipality to promote the destination, particularly after successfully carrying more than 200,000 passengers to Salalah during the peak of the last Khareef season, an increase of 15% compared to 2024.
To view the post on the Oman Air website, click here.
