(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) At its recent annual general meeting, Oman Air reported strong increases in revenue and passenger numbers, supported by growth in seat capacity and cargo operations in 2013.
Oman Air's chairman, H E Darwish al Balushi, further announced a move to increase the authorised share capital of the company by RO200mn to RO700mn.
The chairman went on to say that Oman Air had increased its capacity to 14.9bn available seat kilometres in 2013, enabling the airline to carry, with a total of 4.99mn, nearly 13 per cent more passengers than in 2012.
Oman Air handled 119,785 tonnes of cargo in 2013, an increase of seven per cent on 2012.
These results, together with those of all the airline's other areas of operations, contributed to an increase in Oman Air's total annual revenues in 2013 of ten per cent to RO381.71mn.
H E Balushi said, ''Over the course of 2013 we have enhanced our focus on driving up quality standards, delivering greater efficiencies, increasing the range of choices we offer, and preparing the way for our next stage of major expansion. Throughout these processes, we have adhered to two key principles which underpin every area of our work: To ensure that every customer enjoys the best possible passenger experience, and to continue our determined progress towards profitability.
''The significant ten per cent increase in our revenues and the very positive growth of 13 per cent in our passenger numbers demonstrate that demand for Oman Air's services continues to grow, whilst the 15 per cent increase in the tonnage of cargo handled illustrates the wisdom of our continued investment in this area of operations.
''Although Oman Air's loss increased in 2013 by 16 per cent to RO113.34mn, the company's direct and indirect contribution to the Omani economy over the same period was, according to studies we have commissioned, as much as RO400mn, which more than offsets Oman Air's financial debt to the nation.
''The loss was as a result of our continued investment in new aircraft. The arrival later in 2014 of the first of the 20 new aircraft we currently have on order will signal the start of a major new phase in Oman Air's growth and an increase in our capacity to tackle Oman Air's deficit and move towards profitability.
''In order to further assist this progress, I am pleased to announce an increase of RO2mn to Oman Air's authorised share capital, taking the total to RO700mn. This sum will be divided into 700mn shares, each to the value of RO1 and the Articles of Association will be amended accordingly.''
Outlining Oman Air's achievements over the course of 2013, H E Balushi said that the new Embraer E175 and Boeing B737 aircraft which were added to Oman Air's fleet in 2012 had increased the flexibility and capacity of Oman Air's flee
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