Muscat National Development & Investment Company, Asas, has been awarded an air services operator licence to establish Oman’s first low-cost carrier. Given by the Public Authority for Civil Aviation, this new venture is anticipated to fuel economic growth underpinned by strong air traffic demand which is expected to grow by 40 per cent by 2019. Eng. Khalid bin Hilal Al Yahmadi, CEO of Asas, commented, “At Asas, our aim is to become one of the main development and investment arms for the government and pension funds in the country. To that end, we have identified a portfolio of potential development projects for the next 5 to 10 years across various industries. One of the core sectors is tourism and we are adopting an integrated approach that covers its entire supply chain of which transportation plays an instrumental role as an enabler for the development of the economy in general and tourism in particular.” (Times of Oman)