Airlines will soon be able to offer direct flights between Australia and Saudi Arabia and Oman following the signing of two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) on April 21.
Transport Minister Anthony Albanese noted both the Omani and Saudi MoUs will permit their national carriers to “operate up to four direct flights a week into and out of Australia’s major ‘gateway’ airports” – Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane. Airlines from both countries will also be allowed to operate up to seven additional weekly services if they operate from or make a stopover en route at a regional international airport, from which they will also be granted unlimited access to.
In return Australian carriers will be able to operate up to four weekly flights into and out of Muscat, Salalah or any other Omani city when operating from Australia’s ‘gateway’ airports, with unlimited access to Oman when flying from an Australian regional international airport, while Australian carriers will be able to operate up to six weekly flights into and out of the Saudi Arabian cities of Jeddah and Riyadh, and unlimited services into and out of Dammam.
Both MoUs have provisions for flexible codesharing arrangements.
