Photo: COWI

Salalah International Airport 

The airport in Oman’s second-largest town, Salalah - an unusually lush spot for the Gulf - is being developed into an
international airport for one million passengers annually.
 

The airport in Salalah, Oman’s largest provincial town, is already accepting international traffic, but only has capacity for 200,000 passengers a year. With the expansion work, the airport will have new passenger and cargo terminals as well as capacity for one million passengers.

This expansion is part of a strategig to develop Salalah as a tourist destination. The town is located 1,000 km south of the capital of Muscat, and with a much cooler
climate during the summer months, it’s a magnet for both Omanis and other Arabs.

Expandable to 10 million passengers

The new passenger terminal will have a floor area of 35,000 m² and four passenger boarding bridges. Here again, like Muscat International Airport, the design has made allowance for an increase in future passenger numbers, so that the airport can be expanded to take up to 10 million passengers.

Photo: Larsen A&CE


 The assignment also includes upgrading the existing runway to be able to accommodate large aircraft types, such as the Airbus 380, as well as all the accompanying installations, including parking, with 1,900 spaces.

Two holiday seasons in Oman

The aim is to make Salalah into ”a second port for Oman” after Muscat. Salalah has a humid, temperate season - Khareef - due to the strong southwest monsoon wind which blows from Africa to India. Consequently, in July and August, it is very lush compared with other places in the Gulf.

Developing the area will give Oman a chance to offer two holiday seasons - winter in the north and summer in the south.

Apart from extending the airport, there are five new luxury hotels on their way in the town, which has some 70,000 inhabitants.