Oman Air Cargo upgrades cargo facility at Muscat; to handle 350,000 tonnes p.a.

July 31, 2018: Oman Air Cargo has upgraded its cargo hub facility at the new Muscat International Air Cargo Terminal to compete with global logistics standards. The new cargo facility features a 22,780 square metre, air-conditioned warehouse with the capacity to handle 350,000 tonnes of cargo per annum – substantially larger than the previous facility.

Commenting on the new facility, Oman Air’s CEO Engineer Abdulaziz Al Raisi said, “Oman Air is proud of its new cargo facility at Muscat Airport, which apart from enhancing the operations, also provides the opportunity to boost trade and commerce opportunities for the Sultanate’s economy. Oman Air has made significant inroads in online as well as offline cargo markets and its growth trajectory has been very strong and steady.”

With the upgraded facility, Oman Air Cargo’s year-on-year statistics for the first half of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017 indicate a 25 percent increase in business. This follows on from a 38 percent increase in business for the year 2017, and a 5 percent increase in 2016.

Mohammed Ali Al Musafir, Oman Air’s senior VP-commercial cargo said, “Combined with Oman Air Cargo’s track record of providing high quality services to its logistics customers, the upgraded cargo facility now aligns the company with world-class, globally competitive transport and logistics industry standards and trends.”

The new facility includes 367 pallet or 734 container configurations for unit load device (ULD) storage over three levels, as well as 2,208 skidded pallet positions - all serviced by elevating transfer vehicles (ETV). Accompanying these are dedicated bays that can accommodate three ‘Code F Freighter’ aircraft, along with twenty-five 40-foot truck parking bays (or fifty 20-foot truck bays), as well as 400 car parking bays and 34 truck docks.

The facility also features bulk cold rooms (consisting of 3 chillers, 2 freezers and 1 ambient room), and ULD cold rooms with 28 airline pallet positions in the chiller rooms, and 8 airline pallet positions in the freezer rooms. In addition to this, there are scissor lift & ULD bypass lane facilities, as well as X-ray machines for joining and transshipment cargo screening.

The facility also includes a 2,500 square metre live animal centre, a 228 square metre dangerous goods room (DGR) with the capacity to handle 90 skids and loose cartons, and a vulnerable goods cage with 264 pallet positions. The diplomatic room, human remains room, radioactive room and strong room make up the remaining feature of the facility’s handling units.

The entire facility is supported by 24-hour services for import and export cargo, automated cargo system for documentation and warehousing, export cargo acceptance and import cargo delivery.