Oman Air

Is Oman Air safe?

Yes. Oman's national airline has never had a fatal accident or written offHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary an aircraft, and after seven new Boeing deliveries in a year its fleet reached 33 aircraft, mostly 787s and 737 MAX 8s. We score it 84, a little above Gulf Air (80) and below Etihad and Qatar Airways (both 87).

Two things hold it back. Its worst accident, a turbulence encounter that seriously injured 24 passengers in 2024, happened on an aircraft it flew for Qatar Airways. And Muscat sits inside the area EASA has flagged since the 2026 war with Iran, even though Oman itself has been hit far less than Bahrain, Qatar or the UAE.

What happened on QR1499?

Oman Air leased its A330s with crews to Qatar Airways, so they flew Qatar Airways flight numbers but were operated by Oman Air. On 3 May 2024 one of them, the A330-200 A4O-DA, was cruising at 40,000 feet over Ethiopia on the way from Doha to Kilimanjaro when it hit severe turbulence. Ethiopia's accident investigators said 24 passengers were seriously injured and the aircraft was not damaged. The crew flew on for one to two hours and landed normally at Kilimanjaro.

Kenyan officials at first said they had no record of the event and called the social media photos fake. ADS-B data later placed it over Ethiopia, not Somalia as first rumoured. We have not found a final report.

Turbulence injuries count as accidents under ICAO rules, and 24 seriously hurt is a lot. But they tell you more about seat-belt habits and storms over East Africa than about how an airline maintains or flies its aircraft, which is why this event costs Oman Air a few points rather than many.

What does Oman Air fly?

A smaller, newer fleet than a few years ago. In February 2026 a new 737 MAX 8 brought the total to 33 aircraft, the seventh Boeing 787 or 737 delivery in 12 months, and six more widebodies are due from mid-2028. In 2024 the airline said it would retire its last six 737-800s and four 737-900ERs by mid-2026, leaving only 787s and 737 MAX 8s. We could not confirm that the last of them has gone.

The A330s wet-leased to Qatar Airways do not fly Oman Air's own routes; Oman Air's release does not say whether they are part of the 33.

Is it safe to fly through Muscat during the Iran conflict?

Muscat stayed open when most of the Gulf shut. Oman's civil aviation authority did not close its airspace after the war began on 28 February 2026, and Cirium's data showed Muscat with very few cancellations in the first week, the Oman Observer reported. Oman Air did cancel all flights to Dubai, Doha, Bahrain, Kuwait, Dammam, Amman, Baghdad, Copenhagen and Khasab from 9 to 15 March, and added extra flights to London, Istanbul, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Cairo and Mumbai for travellers stranded elsewhere.

Oman has not been untouched. Drones hit fuel tanks at Duqm and Salalah ports in March, and the UK says Iranian strikes since 8 July have included Oman (see our Oman country page). EASA's bulletin CZIB-2026-07R3, valid to 16 November 2026, covers the Muscat FIR: it advises European airlines not to fly over the Gulf of Oman west of 58°E and to take care over Omani land. Muscat airport lies just east of that line.

Beyond the war, the network is demanding in places. Oman Air flies to Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, India and East Africa as well as Europe and Southeast Asia. In May 2023 a 737-900 landed at Shiraz on a runway with debris on it and was grounded there for 30 hours with damage.

Which incidents are on its record?

The incidents we found are mostly technical faults that crews handled by the book:

• Diyarbakir, February 2020. An A330 from Zurich lost cabin pressure at 39,000 feet; the crew made an emergency descent and landed in Turkey.
• Dar es Salaam, July 2016. A 737-800 burst both nose tyres on landing and stopped on the runway; everyone got off safely.
• Muscat, May 2025. A new 737 MAX 8 bound for Bangkok had a flap problem after take-off, burned fuel in a hold and returned. Oman's CAA opened an investigation.

There were also engine shutdowns on a 737-800 near Goa in 2017 and an A330 at Mumbai in 2019, and cracked windscreens on 787s and 737s. We found no runway excursionsRunway excursionWhen an aircraft leaves the runway surface during take-off or landing, either off the end (an overrun) or off the side (a veer-off).More in the glossary, loss-of-separation events or regulator fines involving Oman Air.

Who regulates Oman Air?

Oman's Civil Aviation Authority. Because no Omani airline flies to the US, the FAA has not rated Oman; that means "not assessed", not a downgrade. No Omani airline is on the EU Air Safety ListEU Air Safety ListThe European Commission's list of airlines banned or restricted from flying in EU airspace because they do not meet international safety standards.More in the glossary, and Oman Air is an IATA member and therefore passes an IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit every two years. Oman publishes few investigation reports in English, so the record above relies heavily on foreign data.

How we scored it

The accident record (91) is clean of deaths and lost aircraft but includes the 2024 turbulence accident. The fleet (87) is young and almost entirely current Boeing types, and incidents (80) are mostly technical. Oversight scores 80 because Oman's regulator is less transparent than the best. Environment scores 70, the same as Emirates and Qatar Airways: Muscat is inside EASA's Gulf conflict-zone bulletin but has been far less exposed than Dubai or Doha, while Oman Air's network reaches Iran, Iraq and Pakistan. Overall 84.