My 5 days in Oman were fantastic and I wish I would have stayed some more time… But the world is big and my (vacation) time is relatively short so after 5 days, I was back in Muscat airport to go to the Asian continent…
A summary of my adventures in Oman can be seen on my blog :
www.boardingnow.net/post14 (to be available soon !)
I managed to book using some BA Avios a one-way ticket to Singapore on Qatar airways, via Doha, with the feeder flight to DOH in Economy and the long-haul flight to SIN in Business class. Considering this was a multi-class itinerary, I had to phone BAEC to have it booked, and I paid 64500 Avios + 192 Euros of « taxes », which are for most of it, hefty fuel surcharges asked by QR. A one-way ticket on this itinerary, or other destinations in the region, would have costed about 800 to 1000 Euros more, so this was a relatively good use of Avios in my opinion. When I booked this, all the 3 daily flights between Doha and Singapore were operated on an Airbus A350-900, which is, together with the upper deck of the 747 and, to some lower extent maybe the A380, my favorite aircraft to fly on. About a month later, I noticed that one of the daily departures had an equipment change to their brand new Airbus
350-1000, with the particularity all those birds feature their signature Q-Suites business class product, which I never flown before. However, the timing of this departure was inconvenient as it was departing Doha in the Morning to land in the evening in Singapore, which would mean an entire day « wasted » . So I decided to stick with my original idea to fly overnight with a morning landing in Singapore, which was still onboard Qatar’s very comfortable business class…
Checking-in Muscat new airport was a breeze, and I used the regular Qatar airways counters to do so. I discovered later that a business class check-in area was available for all the airlines at the other side of the terminal. The check-in agent was very friendly and we chatted a bit about my trip as he asked me for details of my onward journey after Singapore (some airlines typically ask you this when having a one-way ticket).
MCT new airport arrivals curbside
New MCT terminal building - Arrivals
New MCT terminal building - Departures
Clearing security and immigration was done in no time and I then headed to the Primeclass lounge that most airlines, besides Oman Air is using. This lounge is operated by the Turkish company T.A.V and you can see advertisements inside the lounge for Turkish Airlines and the new Istanbul airport. Note that Priority Pass cardholders are eligible to enter this lounge.
Departures area MCT airport
Transit hotel is located in front of the Oman Air and Primeclass lounges
Primeclass lounge entrance - MCT
The lounge is very nice and designed « all-in-length ».
From one end to another, you will find hotel-type bedrooms at one end of the lounge (I did not enquire the conditions to have one booked), located next to a small buffet section and a relaxation area, some restrooms, lots of seating, and then the staffed-bar counter with the main buffet, which was very well catered. The main lounge entrance lobby and some more seating are available at the center of the lounge. Prayer rooms, a kids buffet (but the adults can also use it :-)), and an entertainment area, with a mini movie-theater, a pool table and some video games are available at the other end of the lounge. WiFi was indeed complimentary and was working very well.
I took plenty of pictures, see below. I think this is a very nice lounge, and found the catering to be very good.
From one end of the lounge... Here one of the "hotel-style" rooms (did not enquire about eligibility conditions)
Relaxing area with massage chairs
Small buffet next to the hotel rooms
The bar
The lounge is designed "in length"
Central buffet area
Salad bar
Cold cuts
Hot buffet 1
Hot buffet 2
Dessert buffet
Lounge entrance, located at the middle of it
Views from the lounge
Mini cinema
Playstation area
Kids section
Pool table at the other end of the lounge !
Looks like everyone wants to visit it !
I decided to settle for lunch next to the pool table !
And ended my lunch with some sweets...