Oman signs $130m Muscat airport city development project

• Around existing Muscat International Airport
• Hospitality, commercial and residential districts
• Wants to attract new aviation markets

Oman has signed investment agreements worth $130 million to build a new “airport city” around the existing Muscat International Airport in a bid to increase revenues.

Muscat city airport will house several districts for logistics, hospitality, commercial and residential development with a free zone covering around 2 million square metres.

“Our focus is to attract new aviation markets that can support tourism growth and economic activity to increase revenues,” Saud Al Hubaishi, chief operating officer at Oman Airports, told AGBI. 

He added that Oman Airports has already secured 10 strategic partners for the project which will start next year.

Al Hubaishi also said the net profit of Oman Airports grew by 45 percent in 2025 to OMR21.8 million ($57 million). The passenger traffic through the airport increased by 3 percent to 15.2 million in 2025 compared to a year earlier, thanks to new routes.

In 2025 Muscat airport added new routes to Baghdad, Amsterdam, Beijing and Rome, bringing the total to 141 destinations carried by 51 airlines.

Oman attracted about six million tourists in 2025 up 6 percent from the previous year. The sultanate also plans to attract 16 million tourists by 2040, according to Oman Airports. 

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In March, the Omani government completed the acquisition of SalamAir, the Gulf state’s first low-cost airline, in a strategic move to streamline its aviation sector.

The state-owned Oman Air and SalamAir will continue to operate as independent brands and maintain their operational identities.

AGBI reported in January that Oman was trying to attract private capital into its aviation sector as part of a 15-year strategy to improve connectivity and modernise infrastructure.

The National Aviation Strategy 2040 aims to draw more than OMR1 billion ($2.6 billion) in cumulative private-sector investment.

The 2040 targets include handling more than 40 million passengers, transporting about 1 million tonnes of air cargo and raising the sector’s contribution to GDP to more than 3.5 percent.