Despite closure notice, passengers turn up at old Muscat airport terminal

 A large number of passengers turned up at the old airport, after it had closed at 3 pm following the last flight, which took off at 2:45 pm for Zurich.

“I am still in a fix. I didn’t know the airport was shutting down and that my flight to Salalah was moved to 6:50 pm,” a pharmacist said.

“I should be feeling angry about the change of time and airport, but I am super excited to be getting a first-hand experience of the new Muscat International Airport.

My friends and I were literally looking forward to this day and had a bet on who will be the first to experience it in person...I can’t wait to get there.”

A family of five, travelling to Sharjah with Air Arabia was shocked to discover the airport had been shut down and all flights had been moved to the new airport.

“I can’t believe that I am in a situation like this. I literally don’t know how I didn’t pay attention to the date and all the details related to the new airport.

Great job

“Thankfully the airport authorities and the management, as always, have done a great job by providing assistance and showing cooperation to passengers like us,” said the mother. “I can’t wait to get to the new airport and completely lose it at the Muscat Duty Free, which I heard has brought in 100 new brands. This is definitely the best thing that has happened to me in the last three days.”

For Jade, Isabelle and Luke, the airport shutting down was totally unexpected news, as they were busy camping in the scenic mountains, beaches and wadis of the Sultanate, and had their phones switched off for 11 days.

The group of friends, from Poland, were in Oman to just enjoy their time out and the beauty the country holds. “It’s pretty funny for us to actually witness that the world can absolutely change in days if you have no access to the world of internet or even a cellular phone. We definitely have come a long way and are highly dependent on technology to survive in times like these,” said Luke.

“We are actually thrilled to have bagged another exciting experience on our departure from Oman -- flying in to the old airport and flying out from the new airport. This, indeed, is the best end to our wonderful trip, and we can’t wait to book our flights again,”

one of them said.