When will the new Muscat Airport open?
Feb 22, 2018, 2:43 am
#31
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Phuket
Programs: SQ *Gold, BA, QR, EY, Hilton Diamond, IHG Platinum, Marriott Gold, Amex Platinum
Posts: 5,269
Travellers to Oman will have to apply in advance for a tourism visa online 
https://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle...ch-21-1.706646
https://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle...ch-21-1.706646
Mar 23, 2018, 3:23 am
#34
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: WY SL, EK Gold, CX MPO
Posts: 185
From what I've seen it's actually more impressive than I imagined and quite 'luxurious' even in the public areas compared to similar airports in the region. The WY premium check-in looks quite nice, but they seem to be using the contract 'primeclass' lounge at the moment. Anyone who passed through got any pics? I've heard that the actual WY lounge is still under construction and scheduled to open in about 3 months.
Mar 24, 2018, 6:47 am
#35
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: ASIA
Programs: TK Elite, ALL Plus Diamond, Marriott Platinum, Hertz PC
Posts: 3,530
From what I've seen it's actually more impressive than I imagined and quite 'luxurious' even in the public areas compared to similar airports in the region. The WY premium check-in looks quite nice, but they seem to be using the contract 'primeclass' lounge at the moment. Anyone who passed through got any pics? I've heard that the actual WY lounge is still under construction and scheduled to open in about 3 months.
Mar 26, 2018, 2:54 am
#36
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Phuket
Programs: SQ *Gold, BA, QR, EY, Hilton Diamond, IHG Platinum, Marriott Gold, Amex Platinum
Posts: 5,269
Had a transfer through here on Sunday. As expected, the terminal is a gigantic leap forward.
The good news is that transfers are pretty much as easy as the old MCT airport. There were plenty of signs directing me to baggage claim/transfers when disembarking the inbound flight & a large sign pointing the way at the transfer point (also some transfer desks for collecting onward BPs). Electronic transfer gates are opened by scanning the onward BP. There were plenty of helpful staff assisting. My onward F Class BP facilitated me being ushered to the front of the small security/bag check. From there I entered the expansive Duty Free/shopping area.
Upstairs are the airline lounges and the only one currently operating is “Prime Class” - it was therefore, intermittently, very busy throughout my stay. Oman Air’s lounge & the “Fight Club” lounges were both still “Work In Progress”.
The bad news is that there is still a fair bit of construction related work going on & some things simply don’t work. WiFi was a disaster. Many complaints in the Prime Class lounge - many comments from staff suggesting that too many things don’t work but that MCT insisted the opening went ahead regardless. The lounge itself was decent, although many tradesmen around “fixing” things.
All-in-all, despite the cr@ppy advice from ROP website, visas are not required for transfer pax, and for those of us that use MCT for reasonable originating fares, its literally, a breath of fresh air.
The good news is that transfers are pretty much as easy as the old MCT airport. There were plenty of signs directing me to baggage claim/transfers when disembarking the inbound flight & a large sign pointing the way at the transfer point (also some transfer desks for collecting onward BPs). Electronic transfer gates are opened by scanning the onward BP. There were plenty of helpful staff assisting. My onward F Class BP facilitated me being ushered to the front of the small security/bag check. From there I entered the expansive Duty Free/shopping area.
Upstairs are the airline lounges and the only one currently operating is “Prime Class” - it was therefore, intermittently, very busy throughout my stay. Oman Air’s lounge & the “Fight Club” lounges were both still “Work In Progress”.
The bad news is that there is still a fair bit of construction related work going on & some things simply don’t work. WiFi was a disaster. Many complaints in the Prime Class lounge - many comments from staff suggesting that too many things don’t work but that MCT insisted the opening went ahead regardless. The lounge itself was decent, although many tradesmen around “fixing” things.
All-in-all, despite the cr@ppy advice from ROP website, visas are not required for transfer pax, and for those of us that use MCT for reasonable originating fares, its literally, a breath of fresh air.
Last edited by NoY; Mar 27, 2018 at 7:52 pm Reason: typo
Mar 27, 2018, 9:42 am
#37
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Sapporo, Japan
Programs: Junior Jet Club, Nando's Card 1 Red Chilli, Tesco Clubcard, BAEC Gold, TK M&S Elite
Posts: 520
I'm here at the moment. I concur with everything that was said above. Personally, having not seen the previous one, I think it's a bit of an armpit of an airport. Unfinished, nothing really works properly, there are stellar design problems throughout. The navigation is poor, it's very dark in places, the only available lounge is overburdened and understaffed. It's filthy with building detritus and people's rubbish. Lots of shops are not yet open, and there are inadequate seating arrangements. The only comfortable seating areas are like tiny ghettos, with people creating forts of chairs or sleeping across chairs meant for more than one person. Nobody is clearing away the tables, all the interactive displays are not working. There are no left luggage facilities, and the airline desks are not manned properly.
I just went walking through a door with a toilets sign, that was in fact a fire exit that wasn't locked or alarmed, that lead me to a staff area with access to landside from airside. I hope nobody tries to test the security in anger here, as it's lax at best.
Oh, and contrary to what any Oman press release says, visa on arrival is still perfectly fine as I tested successfully.
I just went walking through a door with a toilets sign, that was in fact a fire exit that wasn't locked or alarmed, that lead me to a staff area with access to landside from airside. I hope nobody tries to test the security in anger here, as it's lax at best.
Oh, and contrary to what any Oman press release says, visa on arrival is still perfectly fine as I tested successfully.