Oman Air targets Thai flyers, aims for 40% revenue boost

Oman Air's manager for Thailand, Ahmed Hazeem Al Balushi, has set an ambitious goal to boost revenue by 40 per cent.

More advertising will be the focus, including an increase in flight frequencies and the opening of its first overseas VIP lounge at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The airline's policy is to attract more Thai travellers.

"For 2012, we plan to do global advertising, both in English and Thai, via different media channels. Our advertising message will highlight our recent award as the best business-class airline from the 2011 World Airline Awards," Balushi said.

The airline today launched a promotional campaign to attract Thais to its business-class service, offering the second business-class seat at half-price. The campaign will run until the end of March. For economy class, the campaign will vary on different routes throughout the world.

Balushi said Oman Air achieved 20-per-cent growth in revenue last year. The recent flood had an impact on its load factor in October and November, when it stayed at 84 per cent, down from 90 per cent earlier.

"However, we aim to achieve 40-per-cent growth in revenue this year driven by our ability to reach our target customers effectively via various media, including radio, newspapers, magazines, television, [the Internet], and social media such as Facebook and Twitter," he said.

Oman Air has increased the number of flights from Bangkok to Muscat, Oman, from nine flights a day to 13. The first Oman Air VIP lounge has also been opened at the Suvarnabhumi Airport to provide more comfort to its customers.

Oman Air flies to 41 destinations around the world, including London, Munich, Frankfurt, Paris, Milan, and recently Zurich, Switzerland.

"Our marketing strategy will be more proactive in the next three months, including the [use] of new marketing and media channels to reach a higher number of customers. We are negotiating with a leading mobile-phone network in Thailand for a transfer of our marketing messages via the short message service [SMS] channel," Balushi said.

Oman Air has received two new Embraer aircraft and is waiting for the delivery of six Boeing 787 Dreamliners, worth more than Bt1.2 trillion, by 2014, he said.

The airline plans to open a new route to Moscow this year.