Chief executive of Omani carrier SalamAir steps down

The CEO of Oman’s low-cost carrier (LCC) SalamAir, Francois Bouteiller, has stepped down, the airline confirmed on Wednesday.
No reason was given for the French national’s departure, but the airline said the board of directors has appointed one of its members as interim CEO.
“The board of directors of SalamAir has made a decision a few weeks ago to change the company’s CEO, and the next appointment will be announced in a few weeks,” SalamAir chairman Khalid Al-Yahmadi said in a statement to Arab News.


“The post is currently and temporarily occupied by the advisor and aviation expert on the board of directors,” he added.
Al-Yahmadi confirmed the new CEO will be a national of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
SalamAir was launched just six months ago by Muscat National Development and Investment Company (ASAAS), an investment and development vehicle at which the shareholders include 10 government pension funds and private investors.
The airline currently operates seven routes, flying between the Omani capital Muscat and Jeddah and Madinah in Saudi Arabia, and Sialkot and Karachi in Pakistan.
It also operates services to Salalah and Sohar in Oman, and a daily service to Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC), Dubai’s second air hub. It is scheduled to begin services to Dubai International Airport in October.
Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at StrategicAero Research, said it was significant that Bouteiller had left so soon after the start of the airline’s operations.
“It’s quite telling the CEO has departed so suddenly — especially given his upbeat plans for SalamAir going forward,” Ahmad told Arab News.
“However, the reality is that SalamAir is a fringe player in the GCC and will struggle to cope with competition from the heavyweights like Flydubai and Air Arabia.”
SalamAir won a tender bid issued by Oman’s Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA) in 2015 to become the country’s first low-cost commercial airline operator.
Ahmad suggested that the country would have been better off launching an LCC through national carrier Oman Air.
He added: “If SalamAir had been launched through Oman Air it would have given the LCC access to better traffic feeds, as well as a bigger pool of financial resources. “The omens don’t look good for SalamAir.”
As former head of Saudi LCC Flynas, Bouteiller brought 30 years of experience to role. However, he admitted this week that the airline needed to turn a profit soon in order to keep flying.
“We have to offer more flights to more destinations. We have to be more competitive and offer good fares that correspond to customer needs,” he was quoted as saying by Arabian Business.
Raghu Mandagolathur, head of research at the Kuwait Financial Center, known as Markaz, suggested that Oman’s ramped-up nationalization program may also have added pressure on Bouteiller’s position.
“Ever since the Arab Spring broke out there has been consistent pressure to replace expats (in) top jobs in Oman,” Mandagolathur told Arab News.
“The country has also increased the rate of Omanization in various sectors, keeping in mind the growing need for local employment. The banking sector is already 95 percent Omanized and premier workplaces such as the Petroleum Development Oman are virtually run completely by (Omani nationals).”

source:Arab News