Why Oman Air is choosing agility over ambition in its cargo transformation

At air cargo Europe 2025, Mike Duggan, Head of Cargo at Oman Air, shared with Libin Chacko Kurian an inside view of how the airline is reshaping its cargo strategy not by trying to mimic giants, but by refining its core.

“The transformation has been a big thing for us,” he said, noting how the airline stepped away from trying to be “another Etihad or Qatar Airways” and instead focused on efficiency, profitability, and serving Oman as a strong point-to-point hub.

Duggan emphasised the role of cargo in this shift.

“Cargo plays have always played an important role for Oman Air, but even more so now because of the revenue impact that it has on our passenger bellies,” he said.

The transformation has led to selling a converted freighter to realise its asset value and instead adopting a flexible outsourced freighter model.