Interview with Ahmed El Gendy: Country Manager Oman Air
In an exclusive interview with MEO, Ahmed El Gendy, talks about Oman Air; he declares significant information about Oman Air and its business magnitude within the Egyptian market; he also tackles the recent renovations of Muscat airport and its significance as a major airport in the Gulf region.
Can you tell us more about your career path in the filed of airlines?
Well I joined, Oman air in 2015; before joining it, I was working in El-Etihad airways, and Madina airlines in Saudi Arabia. I worked as well in Qatar airways, and Kuwait airways.
Being the country manager of Oman air in Egypt, what is your current evaluation for the airlines field?
Well, usually the country manager is responsible for a station, which is the country he/she is working in. Working in Egypt as the country manager of Oman air did give me significant insights about this field. I would say that there is a big lack of trainings within the airline filed. The human factor is a crucial contributor to the success of airlines services, hence giving the needed training is inevitable within this field.
Concerning Oman air, I would say that we are very keen to present the needed trainings; we present training on big scales to all the personnel working in Oman air. Oman air has several sub-divisions, we operate in cargo, operations, and reservations. We support all these sub-divisions with the needed trainings.
As for Oman air, it started to operate in1993; we actually did a re-launch in 2007. In 1993 it was based in Muscat and it was only operating for internal flights in Oman. In 2007, we bought approximately 36 Boeing jets and we expanded our flights within the Middle East and the Gulf countries. Currently we are operating with 45 jets, Boeing and Airbus. Our future plan is operating with 70 jets by 2020.
What do you think of the recent renovations that were executed in Muscat airport?
Since 1993, the vision was set on making Muscat airport an international airport. In 2007 this vision was accomplished and the airport accommodated for 1 million passenger.
Currently the renovation plan for Muscat airport is divided into three phases. The first phase will make Muscat International airport accommodate for 12 million passengers; by the end of the third phase, within 3 years, the airport will accommodate for 40 million passengers.
Can we say that Muscat airport, being an international airport in the Gulf region, can compete with Dubai international airport at in the near future?
I would say that the aim is not to compete with Dubai international airport; the aim is to exceed in all the services we present; one of the most important aspect is operating the “On time managing performance”, which is having the best services at the exact scheduled time frame and being strictly committed to fulfil such aspect; for instance it is inevitable to be keen to maintain the scheduled take off time, arrival time and even managing the arrival of passengers’ luggage.
The more the airport is big the more it is difficult to manage these aspects. It takes various aspects to fulfil such an excellent standard.
I would say that our main aim is to fully develop Muscat airport in order to market for Oman as an important touristic destination within the Gulf area.
In your opinion what is the competitive advantage of Oman air?
I would say that Oman air’s network in India is the competitive advantage of the company. Oman air covers almost 13 destinations in India, many of which are not covered by other airlines.
Another point of strength that Oman air has is, its business class, especially for the long flights. It is important to note that the business class lounge in Muscat airport is ranked as the best 5th business lounge worldwide.
Which target audience you are mainly targeting?
Well, there are several segments; we target in Egypt, students from Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore are our main target. Another segment is Egyptian honeymooners; we organise trips to Tanzania, which has 8 big national parks, Goa in India and Zanzibar. I would say that social media is currently playing a crucial part in all the marketing techniques we are employing.
If you are to evaluate the relations between Oman and Egypt, what would you say?
There are very strong relations between Oman and Egypt, since many year ago. I would say that exchanging programmes are the most popular collabouration aspect between the two countries; there is significant cultural and educational exchange programmes established between Oman and Egypt. As for the economic aspect, many petroleum companies in Oman are Egyptian based, and this is considered something very important.
As for Omani investment in Egypt, I would say that the Egyptian government should work on facilitating investment procedures, in order to encourage a country as Oman, with such a strong economy, to establish more investments in Egypt.
