In a flurry of announcements the day before its Annual General Meeting on Friday, 25 October, Qantas shared its partnership with Oman Air. The airline is set to join the OneWorld alliance in 2025. It is unclear if this partnership will allow access to Oman Air reward seats before or when they officially join, as no date has been advised for the commencement of the partnership.

Why Oman Air

Oman Air is one of 4 airlines scheduled to join OneWorld in 2025. In my opinion, they also happen to have one of the best business-class hard products in the sky. They use APEX Suites, which, despite being in a 2-2-2 configuration, offer direct aisle access for all and a sense of privacy, especially in the window seats, which I think is unbeatable. You also get a huge amount of personal space, with no restrictions around the leg/foot area. The aisle seats aren’t quite as private but are great if you are travelling with someone.

If you have travelled on a Gulf Air 787-9s, Japan Airlines (some 777s and 787s), Korean Air you might have experienced these business class seats.

The downside is that Oman Air doesn’t fly into Australia, so you need to pick them up in an Asian destination before heading to their hub at Muscat and onwards to one of their 40 destinations. These include Dubai, Frankfurt, London, Milan, and Paris. You can connect on Qantas/Jetstar via Bangkok, Manila, Jakarta, Phuket, Bangalore, and Delhi.

“The partnership with Oman Air is an exciting expansion to the program and will unlock tens of thousands of reward seats to places like London, Paris, Frankfurt and Milan each year.”

Andrew Glance, Qantas Loyalty CEO

About Oman Air

Oman Air has undergone quite a change over the last year or two. It has employed consultants, who have recommended slashing Oman’s fleet, eliminating the very comfortable A330s and replacing some long-haul routes with Boeing 737-8s. I was scheduled to travel on one of these earlier in 2024.

It now operates a fleet of 35 aircraft, including ten 787 Dreamliners. Oman’s widebody fleet features three cabins: Business Studio (formerly First), Business and Economy.

The Business Studio suite, formerly sold as First Class, has privacy walls, 82-inch lie-flat seating, a 23-inch TV screen, free Wi-Fi, and à la carte dining. Qantas Frequent Flyers can access Business and Economy reward seats from today. Those desirable Business Studio seats will not be available until early 2025.

Oman is worth visiting.

On my first trip with Oman Air back in 2023, we had a few days’ stopover in Muscat and a night in the mountains behind. Despite it being the height of summer with temperatures close to 40°C, we enjoyed our stay. It feels like everything in Muscat was either built in the last 25 years (the Grand Mosque and Opera House and Al Alam Palace) or is ancient, ancient, ancient, like Nizwa and Jabel Akhdar.

We stayed at some pretty top resorts, and they were both wonderful. In Muscat, we stayed at the Chedi, and felt like we were the only guests. For the price, we should have been! Close to the mountain town of Nizwa, we stayed at Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar Resort for a night, but wished it had been several. The location is breathtaking and the resort superb.

We didn’t sample the snorkelling delights of the coast or the lush valleys and waterfalls of the south, but we still found the low-rise capital and surrounding mountains breathtaking.

Oman Air points redemption

Below is a table provided by Qantas of rewards you can exchange your hard-earned Qantas Frequent Flyer points for:

Route	Economy (plus tax, fees & charges)	Business (plus tax, fees & charges)
Sydney – Bangkok (Qantas)	25,200 points	68,400 points
Sydney – Jakarta (Qantas)	20,300 points	57,000 points
Melbourne – Bangkok (Jetstar)	21,500 points	51,300 points
Bangkok – Muscat (Oman Air)	24,500 points	61,200 points
Jakarta – Muscat (Oman Air)	30,200 points	75,000 points
Muscat – London (Oman Air)	30,200 points	75,000 points
Muscat – Paris (Oman Air)	24,500 points	61,200 points
Muscat – Milan (Oman Air)	24,500 points	61,200 points
Muscat – Dubai (Oman Air)	10,000 points	20,000 points

2PAXfly Takeout

Redeeming on Oman Air is great news for Qantas Frequent Flyers. I wish this partnership had been in place about six months ago so I could have added to my Qantas credits and points. However, it is unclear whether you will be able to earn Qantas Points and Status Credits with Oman Air ahead of their entry into the OneWorld alliance in 2025. Other than the press release, there is nothing currently on the Qantas or Oman Air websites about this partnership agreement.

Indeed, we don’t know when this partnership will commence. As of today (Friday, 25 October 2024), Oman Air flights are not appearing for purchase or redemption into 2025.

It’s odd that Qantas would announce this on the day of its 2024 AGM without a commencement date. Hmmmm. I’ll ask the Qantas Media team the question and update the post accordingly.

The downside of Oman Air is that they don’t fly to Australia, so any trip other than to their home base in Oman is a two-stop affair via Asia. That makes any trip longer. But if you redeem points, that may matter less than if you were paying cash.