MEA June 2017

16 MEA MARKETS / JUNE 2017 , Paul Gregorowitsch is CEO of Oman Air and tells us more about the airline as well as its hopes and aspirations for the future. As winner of the CEO of the Year for Oman, we took the opportunity to celebrate this success, by interviewing the man at the helm. Flying High Oman Air is the national airline of the Sultanate of Oman. Founded in 1993, the airline has always been guided by the vision of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said, that it’s role would always be to create air bridges between the beautiful Sultanate of Oman and the rest of the world. Paul Gregorowitsch has been the airline’s CEO for the last two and a half years. He tells us more about his role. “I am proud to say we have achieved massive growth, becoming an Official 4 Star Airline (Skytrax 2011), while playing a major role in making Muscat an important traffic hub in the Middle East, and supporting Oman’s commercial, industrial and tourism sectors.” Oman Air currently operates direct international flights from Muscat to Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Madina, Tehran, Mashhad, Najaf, and Kuwait in the Gulf region, as well as Cairo, Beirut and Amman in the wider Middle East/Africa region. In addition, Oman Air flies to eleven destinations in India (Goa, Mumbai, Chennai, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, Delhi, Lucknow, Bangalore, Kozhikode and Jaipur); Chittagong and Dhaka in Bangladesh; Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore in Pakistan; Kathmandu in Nepal; and Colombo in Sri Lanka. The airline also flies to Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Jakarta, Zanzibar, Dar Es Salaam and Guangzhou in China. Its European destinations are London, Milan, Munich, Frankfurt, Paris and Zurich. In the near future we will also be launching three brand new routes; to Peshawar, Nairobi and Manchester. Being an international airline, Oman Air has clients and staff all over the globe. “We are known as a luxury airline and have a multi award- winning on-board product,” says Paul. “We offer all our guests an exemplary experience whether they are travelling First, Business or Economy Class. Our guests are a mixture of business and leisure travellers. Oman Air also has cargo, engineering, ground handling and catering services divisions.” Over the years Oman Air’s flights have facilitated the increase in bilateral trade, tourism and investment opportunities in Africa and the Middle East. Its growing network means that Oman Air offers thousands of business and leisure travellers the opportunity to travel between Oman, Africa and the Middle East (and beyond). Even in the context of increasing global volatility, economic downturn and drastically reduced government subsidy, Oman Air increased its contribution to Oman’s GDP by 6% in the last year and this increase is projected to grow further in 2017; creating employment opportunities to Omani nationals, bringing tourists to the Sultanate, building global connections and last but not least, supporting small and medium-sized enterprises. “Oman Air is all about team work,” explains Paul, talking about the airline’s success. “I joined the airline in August 2014 and have been privileged to have the great support of our board and colleagues during my time here. Together, we are on a journey to become the best and we have been successful in fulfilling our objectives of the last 2.5 years, including facilitating Oman Air’s tremendous growth, making money, increasing our market share as airline of first choice, and ultimately running a safe airline.” Oman Air was the first airline in the world to offer the full connectivity suite (Mobile OnAir and Internet OnAir) on its commercial wide-body aircraft, when it introduced full mobile phone and wi-fi connectivity across its brand new Airbus A330 fleet in 2010. This offered First, Business and Economy Classes the opportunity to make and receive mobile phone calls, SMS messages, use email and the internet, and keep up to date with social networking media. “As customers increasingly seek information, communicate, and make purchases using technology, it is vital that we make effective use of websites, social media and apps. The Oman Air app allows guests to search, book, buy and check- 1702ME11 in for their flight as well as keeping up to date with Oman’s Air frequent flyer programme, Sindbad. Guests can now enrol, check their miles balance, track their tier progress, store their membership card, manage the Family account and much more, all from their mobile. “Additionally, Oman Air has redesigned its website and made it available in both English and Arabic. The airline manages a thriving range of social media platforms, via which we are able to engage with our guests, keep them informed of the latest developments and seek their views about every aspect of our operations.” With regards to the future, Paul states that Oman Airline’s vision is “To Become the Best”, and it is his responsibility to ensure that Oman Air is a safe airline and the airline of first choice, while making money by increasing revenues and reducing costs. “I need to ensure that Oman Air is catering for growth as set out in the company’s ten-year plan and continues to contribute to the development of the Sultanate of Oman. “Continued fleet and network expansion together with a renewed focus on on-board services and developments will be a priority for Oman Air in 2017; ensuring the airline of the Sultanate of Oman continues to drive up revenues, increases its growing contribution to the national economy and delivers against its ten year development plan.”