en.Wedoany.com Reported - Lesley Cripps, European Sales Manager at Oman Air Cargo, told The Loadstar that the closure of regional airports during the Hormuz crisis significantly boosted the company's visibility, accelerating its growth plans for the coming years. The airline is planning to strengthen regional services and increase capacity into Asia and Europe, with the African market also under consideration.

Speaking at the Multimodal exhibition in Birmingham, Cripps told The Loadstar that the company's rapid transit capabilities, support for special cargo, and Gulf landside feeder services played a key role during the turmoil. With airports in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE closed due to bombing, Oman Air was able to step in when others could not provide support.

When asked whether the increased exposure had led to additional services or development plans, Cripps noted that long-term planning had been affected and mentioned that, in addition to launching new routes to Abu Dhabi, Singapore, and Tashkent, more destinations are under consideration. One of these destinations, "in Europe," is planned to launch by the end of the year, with details yet to be disclosed. Additionally, opportunities are emerging in Africa; the company operates narrow-body aircraft to Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam, and there is a potential market in sub-Saharan Africa, though a comprehensive assessment is still needed.

In the short to medium term, Cripps believes the company will continue to strongly support regional capacity demand, particularly given the back-and-forth over the opening of the Hormuz waterway. Confidence in regional security within the air cargo market has improved, with Cathay Pacific announcing plans to gradually resume flights to Saudi Arabia and the UAE over the next two months. Cargo services to Riyadh resumed on August 1, with daily passenger flights to Dubai and four weekly flights to Riyadh resuming on September 1; these flights are now open for sale.

Despite the return of air cargo capacity, Cripps stated that the company does not expect much progress in sea freight unless the situation fully ends and an agreement is reached, so landside feeder services will continue to operate. Cripps noted that the company is confident in meeting customer demand through the RFS (Road Feeder Service), which was only sold after being fully prepared and has proven successful.