Oman Air will be officially joining the Oneworld alliance in the latter half of 2024, as first reported by Executive Traveller. Once the airline joins, it will bring the colours and flavours of Oman to more travellers as it takes the major step of joining a global airline alliance.
Since airline alliances allow members of loyalty programs to book flights on all partner airlines, this means that we’ll soon be able to book Oman Air flights using fellow Oneworld mileage currencies like British Airways Avios, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan.
Oman Air: The Newest Oneworld Member Airline
Oman Air expressed its desire to join Oneworld back in September of 2021, so this latest development comes as no surprise, and if anything, it’s a bit overdue. Oman Air was formally invited to join the alliance in 2022, and the process has been unfolding since then.
We now know that Oman Air will be an official member of Oneworld in the latter half of 2024. Indeed, this is very much something to look forward to, especially as we take a look at the additional mileage redemption avenues ahead.
Oman Air’s long-haul flights stretch across Europe and South East Asia, flying as far west as London and as far east as Manila. As it stands, Oman Air doesn’t operate any flights to North America.
Technically, Oman Air isn’t adding a significant number of new destinations to Oneworld, given the airline’s already strong coverage in the region with Qatar Airways and Royal Jordanian. However, Oman Air does bring much more frequent connectivity to complement its Middle Eastern peers.
As an added bonus, Oman Air offers strong First Class and business class products that are certainly worth trying out.
In business class, Oman Air is operating Apex Suites, which are identical to Japan Airlines’s flagship product. The 2-2-2 seating might not sound that competitive, but the privacy afforded at window seats is unparalleled.
Meanwhile, in First Class, Oman Air has a 1-2-1 configuration onboard the Boeing 787 Dreamliners, complete with sliding doors, pajamas, and caviar.
Finally, we can’t ignore the excellent lounge offerings at the airline’s home base of Muscat, with à la carte dining and complimentary spa treatments in the Oman Air First Class Lounge, and sleeping rooms in the Oman Air Business Class Lounge.
New Oneworld Redemptions on Oman Air
Later this year, we’ll be able to redeem Oneworld mileage currencies like British Airways Avios and Cathay Pacific Asia Miles on flights with Oman Air. Considering the ease of earning both currencies in Canada, it’s worth taking a look at how to leverage both programs to travel on Oman’s national carrier.
One sweet spot with British Airways Executive Club is for short-haul flights within any particular region. This should work well for the majority of Oman Air’s domestic routes, routes in the Gulf area, and to the Indian subcontinent, which represent the majority of the carrier’s flights.
All domestic flights, as well as flights to Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Karachi, Pakistan, fall into the shortest Avios mileage band of 0–650 miles. Based on current Avios pricing conventions, these flights would cost just 6,000 Avios one-way in economy class or 12,500 Avios in business class.
One mileage band further and it’s still quite a good deal, with Kuwait, Riyadh, the rest of Pakistan, and Western India projected to cost 9,000 Avios one-way in economy class or 16,500 Avios in business class.
As for Oman Air’s long-haul network, you’ll notice that Istanbul, Bangkok, and all of Tanzania fall under 3,000 miles in distance. Based on the current Avios pricing model, these would cost 13,000 Avios in economy class and 38,750 Avios in business class.
All of Europe, along with Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta will fall one mileage band beyond, pricing out at 20,750 Avios in economy class and 62,000 Avios in business class, respectively.
Another proposition is to use Asia Miles, which underwent a global devaluation in October 2023.
There isn’t a published award chart for partner airlines, and the cost is different for each one. Once flights with Oman Air become available to book with Asia Miles, we’ll get a sense of what the pricing is like.
Finally, don’t forget the implications on the Oneworld multi-carrier chart for both Avios and Asia Miles. The relatively short distances of Oman Air’s flights should add welcome new possibilities to plan a multi-stop trip around the world at favourable rates.
In terms of award availability, Oman Air is very consistent with releasing award space, typically offering up one First Class seat and two business class seats on every flight.
Lastly, there’s no news about Oman Air’s current partnership with Aeroplan. However, we might not expect this partnership to change immediately upon Oman Air’s accession into Oneworld in 2024.
After all, while cross-alliance airline partnerships are uncommon, they do exist here and there.
Conclusion
Oman Air will become the 14th Oneworld member airline when it formally joins the alliance in the latter half of 2024.
In recent years, Oneworld has been growing its membership following the addition of Alaska Airlines and Royal Air Maroc. When a new member joins, it increases the value of the miles we hold within the alliance, while widening the alliance’s range of products and destinations.
Although Oman Air does not fly to North America, the airline provides useful additional connectivity to the Middle East region, from where it’s very easy to catch a flight to just about anywhere.
