Oman Air, the sultanate's national carrier, will begin operating its new summer schedule starting from tomorrow (March 26) with the introduction of three new routes - Nairobi (Kenya), Kozhikode (India) and Manchester (UK).

The introduction of the new schedule coincides with the start of Summer Time in Europe, reducing the time-difference with Oman by one hour, said a statement from Oman Air.

For Nairobi, it will be a four-weekly service from its hub Muscat, while for Kozhikode, the Omani airline will fly a daily direct service from Salalah and for Manchester, it will be a daily direct service from Muscat starting from May 1.

The move comes following the acquisition of a new B787-9 aircraft by the end of April.

The implementation of the summer schedule brings about both a number of new routes and code shares and changes to existing services, all of which contribute to the airline’s ambitious and dynamic programme of fleet and network expansion, said the statement.

The new summer schedule will also see a number of flight changes. Flights from Muscat to Frankfurt (Germany) will now depart early morning, rather than afternoon, which will enable passengers to take advantage of connecting flights with Lufthansa to 59 additional destinations in the US and Europe.

In Frankfurt and Munich, Oman Air will relocate to the Lufthansa Terminals (1 and satellite 2) and offer premium customers access to the Lufthansa lounges.

Oman Air’s Frankfurt and Munich services will now carry a Lufthansa code share, it stated.

Also, the service from Muscat to Chittagong (Bangladesh) will increase from four times to six times per week, while the frequency of flights to the south Indian city of Hyderabad will increase from twice to thrice daily.

This growth in capacity follows the agreement between the Indian Government and Oman Air to increase the number of weekly seats.

CEO Paul Gregorowitsch said: "Our summer schedule demonstrates how we are continuing to grow our already expansive network and capitalize on new opportunities."

"We are continuously striving to offer our guests the best possible service; our new schedule offers an even greater choice and ensures that our award winning airline provides a truly seamless travel experience," he noted.

From June 25, Oman Air will increase due to high demand the capacity on its Bangkok (three per day) and Kuala Lumpur (two per day) services, said the statement.

Special code-share agreements have also been agreed with Lufthansa and United Airlines for North Atlantic traffic, it added.-TradeArabia News Service