OMAN AIR: We have a date! To join OneWorld in June 2025

We have known Oman Air is to join OneWorld for a while. First, it was scheduled for 2024 and then recently rescheduled for 2025. Now, we have an official date courtesy of the new Oman Air CEO, Con Korfiatis, via ET’s David Flynn. He’s on a junket to London via Bangkok and Muscat provided by Qantas and Oman Air.

Oman Air Set to Join Oneworld Alliance in 2025

Oman Air is officially set to join the Oneworld alliance on June 30, 2025 to expand its global reach. The Muscat-based airline is gearing up for significant changes and growth. That includes the addition of new aircraft, including two new Boeing 787s in early 2025.

Strategic Expansion with Oneworld

Oman Air plans to resume double-daily flights to London Heathrow in late 2026, reclaiming valuable slots that had been leased to another carrier. A record price for slots at Heathrow was set in 2016 when Oman Air purchased a pair from Air France–KLM for $75 million.

The two new Boeing 787s scheduled for early 2025 will also feature Oneworld livery, celebrating Oman Air’s entry into the alliance.

As part of its adaptation to One World norms, Oman Air will introduce new fare types—Super Saver, Comfort, and Flex—in both economy and business classes from December 3, 2025. These fares will allow Oman Air to map its fares to other alliance airlines. To this end, it will also make changes to the Sinbad Loyalty program.

Enhancing the Sindbad Loyalty Program

Joining Oneworld will unlock benefits for frequent flyers, including earn-and-burning of points across all member airlines and reciprocal status benefits.

Sindbad currently offers only Silver and Gold tiers. Oman Air is exploring a third elite tier to map against Oneworld Emerald status. This new status tier would give members access to Oman Air’s First Class lounge at Muscat. It is a toss-up between mapping the current Gold tier to Saphire or Emerald or introducing a new ‘platinum‘ tier.

About Oman Air

Oman Air first indicated it would be joining Oneworld 2021. It had the support of Qatar Airways, another Gulf-based Oneworld member. Oman Air is in the process of a fairly major restructuring, which includes letting go of its Airbus A330 fleet and even flying some new narrow-body Boeing 737s on seven-hour plus international routes.

Oman Air currently operates a fleet of around 35 aircraft, mainly Boeing 787-9s and Boeing 737-8 MAXs.

The airline is also known for its Apex Suites in Business Class, which, while adopting a 2-2-2 layout, allow direct aisle access from every seat. It’s one of the best business class seats globally. I speak from experience, having travelled on the airline for roughly 8 long-haul sectors over the last few years.

Why OneWorld and not Star Alliance?

Some might argue that Star Alliance could have been a better fit for Oman Air. The region already has a significant OneWorld member with Qatar Airways. The case is that Star Alliance has no significant presence in the Middle East, and Oman Air would have been an easy recruit.

It seems that Qatar Airways supported the application. Qatar Airways’ former CEO was Chair of OneWorld then, with a mission to expand the alliance. So, it might just have been a coincidence that pointed the way to OneWorld rather than Star Alliance.

2PAXfly Takeout

Oman Air is one of my favourite airlines. I’ve travelled with them on two return trips to Europe in 2023 and 2024, and I have another booked with them for mid-2025. In fact, my trip will straddle to the announced joining date. I hope I get status credits with OneWorld partner Qantas for at least the return leg!

The Apex business suite is a big part of why I like them, but I also like their service design and food and beverage despite their practice of pouring in the galley.

To service Australia, Oman Air has teamed up with Thai Airways, Qantas, and Malaysian Airlines to provide the last sector between Asia and Australia.

While I like all those airlines, I wish Oman would start flying direct between Muscat and Australia’s East Coast, providing a one-stop service to Europe.

On the other hand, that two-stop route, including Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur and Muscat, makes Oman Air’s Business Class Airfares competitive—something I also like.