Oman Air Takes Off

     Look up in the sky—it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Oman Air!
     You might think Suresh Nair is a new kid on the block—the youthful head of cargo sales and marketing at Oman Air projects the image of an eager, dedicated young airline executive, driven by his unique role in the emergence of a major niche player on the air cargo scene.
     “In five years we want to be where Etihad is today,” Mr. Nair says with determination.
     “We are a medium-sized carrier that is putting great emphasis on air cargo, as we go about acquiring a wide-body fleet of cargo friendly, belly-loaded aircraft.”
     Asked if he would prefer to load passengers in the hold and put cargo on the main deck, as Oman Air currently serves 48 destinations via 30 aircraft from hub Muscat, Nair thinks for a second, gets the joke, and laughs.
     “By 2017 we will have 50 aircraft and by 2020 we will see 70 airplanes in the fleet consisting of B787, B777, and A330-300s going to an expanded menu of destinations.”
     It turns out Nair has worked at three airlines—SWISS, Etihad and now Oman Air.
     “I began in operations at SWISS, [then] moved into revenue management and really had my learning ground there.
     “Later I was part of the very exciting operations start up for Etihad Airways in India, spent some time in Abu Dhabi headquarters for six years in total at EY, and now am part of the great build up and emergence of Oman Air.”
     “My background in operations and revenue management offers a keen awareness of the key drivers in air cargo,” Mr. Nair said.
     “We are very aware of what needs to be done and as a small, service-driven carrier everybody pitches in to get the job done every step of the way,” he concluded.
Geoffrey