Based in Muscat, Oman Air is a small, but highly regarded, airline that operates a fleet of just under 50 aircraft and has a somewhat limited route map. Its western reach ends at the UK and the Philippines mark its eastern boundary. The airline is known for having a very high quality business class product on both Airbus and Boeing aircraft. In fact, many folks actually prefer it to more well-known Middle East carriers like Qatar and Emirates.
Oman Air announced today that it will be joining the oneworld alliance and should be completely integrated into points/miles earning and redemption by 2024.
Quick Thoughts
It’s somewhat surprising that Oman Air is joning oneworld, given that Qatar Airways has been a longstanding member and operates many of the same routes. That said, Qatar and Oman seem to be fairly cooperative, with Qatar even leasing some of Oman Air’s aircraft during an aircraft shortage earlier this year.
Regardless, I’m personally excited at the opportunity to be able to use AAdvantage and Alaska miles on Oman Air as it’s been a tricky airline to book with. Last year it began a partnership with Air Canada Aeroplan that, for the first time, made it possible to combine award bookings with other North American carriers. Now that it’s joining oneworld, it will open up some fun opportunities between Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
I’ve heard rumblings over the years of OA starting a route to North America, but I think this makes that even more unlikely, given Qatar’s footprint here and the apparent cooperation between the two carriers.
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I don’t know why you didn’t mention their outstanding First Class product? It currently only operates between LHR-MCT, but I went out of my way to sample it (with Aeroplan miles) and it was absolutely wonderful.
Tell us more about Sindbad miles!
Lol, that’s pretty awesome, isn’t it?
I had a feeling this would eventually happen since they have been a Qatar non alliance partner for some time.