SINGAPORE, 1 March 2023: SalamAir has launched direct flights to Mashhad in Iran and Almaty in Kazakhstan from its Muscat home base in Oman.
Mashhad is the third destination in Iran for the airline, with flights to Shiraz and Tehran already in its network. Almaty is the airline’s first destination in Kazakhstan. Weekly flights from Muscat to Mashhad and Almaty started last week.
The two routes serve a high medical, business, and leisure tourism demand. The new flights will also offer convenient connections to the SalamAir network.
SalamAir CEO Captain Mohamed Ahmed said: “Iran has been one of the key focus markets for us, and we are pleased to launch the third destination to the country… (As for) Kazakhstan; the city of Almaty, has promising passenger travel to Muscat, and we expect to carry both business travellers and holidaymakers… Oman and Kazakhstan recently agreed to have close bilateral cooperation in economy, renewable energy, tourism, and food security, so this route will be mutually beneficial.”
Mashhad
The holly city is the capital of Khorasan province in northeast Iran and the second largest city in the country, Mashhad is best known for the shrine of Imam Reza. Every year, millions of pilgrims visit the holy shrine, considered the largest and most magnificent of its kind. Mashhad is located 850 km northeast of Tehran.
Almaty
Located near the gigantic Tian Shan Mountain range, Almaty in Kazakhstan is the world’s ninth-largest country. It extends from the Caspian Sea in the west to the Altai Mountains east on its border with China and Russia. Almaty is the old capital city of Kazakhstan and remains the financial as well as the cultural hub. Tourism is a key industry in Almaty and is a major source of foreign exchange earnings.
SalamAir flies to domestic destinations, including Muscat, Salalah, Suhar, Duqm, and Masirah, and international destinations to Dubai, Doha, Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Madinah, Kuwait, Bahrain, BEY, Sarajevo, Istanbul, Trabzon, Bursa, Baku, Colombo, Kathmandu, Bangkok, Phuket, Prague, Shiraz, Tehran, Mashhad, Alexandria, Khartoum, Multan, Sialkot, Karachi, Dhaka, Chattogram, Jaipur, Trivandrum, Lucknow, Kuala Lumpur, and Almaty. SalamAir flies directly from Suhar to Shiraz, Salalah and Calicut, Trabzon, and Salalah to Calicut.
About SalamAir
SalamAir commenced its commercial operations in 2017 and, in six years, achieved growth in its operations and expanded its region’s reach, having the youngest fleet in Asia for 2021 and 2022, according to Ch-Aviation. It operates six A320neo, four A321neo, and one Airbus A321 freighter.
