Oman’s Capital Market Authority has approved a vote taken during the last extraordinary general meeting of shareholders of Oman Air (WY, Muscat), on March 30, backing an increase in the company’s capital through a private placement, local media reported on May 16.
The financial regulator’s decision will ensure that the airline’s paid-up capital is raised by OMR160 million rials (USD416 million) to OMR1.27 billion (USD3.3 billion).
Oman Air CEO Abdulaziz Al Raisi revealed last November that the state-owned flag carrier needed more funding because of the lasting impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and would ask the government for aid as well as raise debt on the capital market.
During a series of presentations made by state-run companies at the Oman Investment Authority last month, Oman Air outlined a new strategy to reconnect the Sultanate to the rest of the world as the pandemic recedes, to promote it as a travel destination, and “make the company a major enabler for the Omani economy.”
“The airline aims to improve the company’s financial sustainability through operational initiatives that cover the network of destinations, target key markets, and adopt an effective business model,” it said.
It will continue to work towards membership of the Oneworld alliance, a move it announced last September, and deploy “a strategic partnership” with Qatar Airways to reach more destinations - including raising the profiles of Oman and Oman Air during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar in November-December. It will also seek to restructure its fleet, it said without elaborating.
The ch-aviation fleets module shows that Oman Air operates 50 aircraft: fifteen B737-800s, five B737-900ERs, eleven B737-8s, four A330-200s, six A330-300s, two B787-8s, and seven B787-9s. It has retired its four E175s in recent months, and it has a further seven B737-8s and nine B787-9s on firm order from Boeing.
