In a special ceremony here on 26 October, Oman Air and CFM International signed a Rate per Flight Hour (RPFH) agreement for the airline's fleet of 33 CFM56-7B engines.
The RPFH is a comprehensive maintenance program customized to Oman Air's specific requirements. Under the terms of the agreement, CFM guarantees the maintenance cost on a dollar per engine flight hour basis for the airline's entire fleet of installed and spare CFM56-7B engines powering its fleet of 15 Boeing Next-Generation 737 aircraft throughout the term of the agreement.
"The agreement we signed today begins the next chapter of a successful partnership", said Salim Al Kindy, Chief Technical Officer of Oman Air.
"We are very proud to offer our customers the industry-leading, on-time reliability through this tie-up. This comprehensive service and support package will enable us to keep our costs predictable and allow us to focus better on serving our customers ever better." Al Kindy said.
Oman Air, which was formed in 1993 as the designated carrier of the Sultanate of Oman, became a CFM customer in 2001, when it became the first airline in the Gulf region to order CFM56-7B-powered Boeing Next-Generation 737 aircraft. Today, the airline operates a fleet of 23 aircraft and serves nearly 41 destinations throughout the Gulf region, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and the Far East.
CFM56-7B engines are a product of CFM International, which is a joint venture between Snecma (Safran group) and GE. CFM, the world's leading supplier of commercial aircraft engines, has delivered more than 21,300 engines to date and the fleet has achieved more than 500 million flight hours as the most reliable engines in the air.
About Oman Air
Oman Air is the flagship carrier of the Sultanate of Oman. Founded in 1993, the airline has since witnessed massive growth and has played a major role in making Muscat an important traffic hub in the Middle East, supporting the commercial, industrial and tourism sectors.
The airline currently operates direct international flights from Muscat to Gulf destinations, such as Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Riyadh, Kuwait, Al Ain and Ras Al Khaimah. Within the Middle East region, Oman Air flies to Cairo in Egypt, Beirut in Lebanon and Amman in Jordan.
In addition, Oman Air flies to ten destinations in India Mumbai, Chennai, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, Delhi, Lucknow, Bangalore, Kozhikode and Jaipur. Within the Subcontinent, Oman Air also flies to Chittagong in Bangladesh, Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore in Pakistan and Colombo in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, Oman Air flies to the Indian Ocean islands of the Maldives. Within the Far East, Oman Air destinations include Bangkok in Thailand and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
Among its European destinations are: London in the United Kingdom, Munich and Frankfurt in Germany and Paris in France. Oman Air also flies to Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania since June 2010.
In September, Oman Air commenced operations to Dammam in Saudi Arabia, and Kathmandu in Nepal. Milan, Italy, is the other destination scheduled for the balance of 2010.
Oman Air unveiled its First Class Mini Suite in October 2009, which marks a further milestone in Oman Air's ongoing drive for quality and comfort. Earlier in 2009, Oman Air had unveiled its new, lie-flat Business Class seat, which offers greater levels of comfort and amenity than many other airlines' first class products and is fitted on all the new Airbus wide-body fleet.
Marking a pioneering milestone in the history of aviation, Oman Air has become the first airline in the world to offer both mobile telephony and Internet connectivity on board its flights.
Oman Air and Malaysia Airlines entered a code-share partnership in June 2010, opening up more international destinations to their customers. Oman Air's passengers, who currently enjoy direct flights to Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, will now be connected to 4 new destinations in Malaysia - Langkawi, Kota Kinabalu, Penang, Kuching, and 2 new destinations in Asia - Singapore and Hong Kong.
In turn, passengers flying from Kula-Lumpur to Muscat will be able to connect seamlessly to Amman and Kuwait City, with more options from Oman to Dubai and Beirut as well.