OAMC begins tender process for duty free, other outlets
MUSCAT: The Oman Airport Management Company (OAMC) has begun the first stage for the forthcoming tender process for its duty free, luxury retail and food & beverage contracts at New Muscat International Airport. In its announcement, the OAMC invited qualified businesses with airport concessions experience to respond to its Request for Qualifications (RFQ), with Request for Proposal documentation released to short-listed companies. "The duty free and luxury retail package will offer the successful bidder an area of 5,320 sqm to provide core duty free products in addition to luxury fashion and accessories, watches, toys and gourmet foods and confectionery", the OAMC said in its request for qualification announcement. The food and beverage package offers 3,560 sqm of space to the winner. At stake are ten-year contracts for each of the key categories, with over 18,000 sqm of commercial space available in the terminal. OAMC is responsible for managing and operating Muscat International and Salalah Airports in Oman. The total gross floor area for the new Muscat International terminal building is reported to be 344,995 sqm, with an overall airport land area of 21 sq km. Three subsequent expansion phases are planned to increase the airport's annual capacity to 24 million, 36 million and 48 million passengers when projected demand requires it. The new cargo terminal will have a capacity to handle 260,000 tonnes of freight annually. At the same time, the number of flights at the Muscat International Airport during the first quarter of this year registered a rise of 9.2 per cent compared to the same period last year, taking off from last year's 20,235 to 22,102 flights this year, which include both international and domestic ones. The number of international passengers at the Muscat International Airport grew by 9.5 per cent, reaching nearly 2.21 million in the first quarter of this year, while domestic passenger growth touched 2.9 per cent with 200,666 passengers. International passenger arrivals at the Muscat International Airport this year touched 1.12 million in the first quarter in contrast to 1.01 million during the same period last year, marking a 10.1 per cent growth. According to statistics issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information, nearly 2.41 million people used the Muscat International Airport for international or domestic travel in the first quarter of this year, as against 2.21 million during the same period in 2014. During the first quarter, there was an increase of 8.4 per cent in the number of international flights at the Muscat International Airport touching 19,467, compared to 17,961 flights in the same quarter last year. Domestic flights on the other hand logged a year-on-year growth of 15.9 per cent in the period reaching a total of 2,635. At the Salalah Airport, international passengers including transit passengers witnessed a significant growth of 42.1 per cent, with their numbers soaring to 78,265 this year, while domestic passenger volume recorded a marginal 0.8 per cent rise to reach 139,404 compared to first quarter figures last year.
