Muscat Seeb Airport

Arrived at 23:20 from Doha. No piers so all transfers are by bus to the terminal building. Those in the know sprint to the Travelex Bureau de Change to pay their 6 Riyals to buy a visa before queuing for Passport Control. Those who don't understand the system will find the queue for the Visa Payment grows very long. In reality it moves relatively quickly. Passport is simple no forms to be completed and then into Baggage Reclaim. Bags were already waiting then through the scanner at Customs for the bags and into Arrivals. This was busy but not so you were not sure what was going on. No unhelpful offers of carrying bags or things like that. The main car park is directly across from the Arrivals Hall. The whole airport is small but runs quite well. It tends to be very busy late at night as flights from Europe arrive and connect to other locations.

Upon arrival the transfer to the terminal was by bus. Obtaining a tourist visa cost 6 OMR before clearing immigration. Baggage claim was very quick with all our bags waiting for us. Customs is also a swift process. The main concourse was very very busy and in the heat was an experience. Departure can be a bit hectic with the majority of flights being operated late at night. The front of the terminal was a bit of a scrum. Be wary of the porters on the initial security check. Check in was not too bad. Security again was no different than anywhere else as was immigration. Shopping was a little limited but adequate with a duty free shop and several book stores and coffee shops. Departure lounge was decent. Again transfer to the aircraft was by bus. A pleasant airport and certainly not the worst you'll ever encounter.

A small-ish airport but nicely laid out. No airbridges boarding and deplaning in 40 C+ is quite an experience. Check-in area a bit cramped and chaotic. Departure area nice with good duty-free shops bookshop coffee shop and plenty of seats. Arrivals area very good. Visa purchase passport control and baggage reclaim moves swiftly.

Seeb has to have the quickest baggage reclaim in any airport. Came off the BA flight first straight through immigration and bags came out within 5 minutes as opposed to almost 30 mins in other airports if you're lucky. Departures area is good clean with decent Duty Free. Oman Air lounge is slightly dated but still good.

A pleasant surprise. It was clean had enough seating with a nice coffee shop with a view of the ramp and clean toilets. The busses were not a problem in December but may be more of an issue in the hot summer.

I transited twice in March. The outbound was a quick changeover with only 50 mins on the ground. Simple signs very good a/c adequate seats and cheap duty free. On return we had 5 hours to kill the seats are average enough places to eat and drink etc. Toilets not too bad but occasionally short on paper could be alarming! Buses to remote parking but only a short distance and no great hardship. The airport is busy during the late evening but there are sufficient facilities. Some decent entertainment during a long layover would be a bonus.

I flew in from the UAE on 15th Feb 2006 and was expecting a considerable wait to sort out visa etc but was very pleasantly surprised. Upon arrival you join an orderly and fast moving queue to purchase your visa stamp from a currency exchange bureau and then proceed directly to the immigration counter where your passport is stamped. The whole procedure took about 20 minutes. This is far quicker than it takes at Dubai airport where although you don't have to get an visa the queues for passport control are huge and very slow moving. The staff on visa stamp/passport control duty were super friendly and totally not-intimidating - unlike at Dubai. All in all it was a totally hassle free experience.

Was there twice on transit from Frankfurt to Jakarta. The airport is small comparable with a regional European airport like Charlerois in Belgium. All planes park outside and everyone is being bussed to the terminal building. A Middle East-style security check is there in place for all arriving passengers which can take quite a while especially when you're already tired from a long flight. The building itself is very small and can be very crowded plastic chairs everywhere with a noisy and "charter airport" like appearance. Fortunately I could use the Gulf Air lounge downstairs to escape the fish market upstairs. The lounge was of very good quality only the internet speed was extremely low - I guess they still use a dial-up internet connection there. All in all not an airport you could wish to have to transit but if you can use on of the lounges it can be a nice experience.

Muscat Airport was a big disapointment. The transfer desk is a complete mess. There is no indication of which desk to go for which flight. Creates an unnecessary chaos which is completely unnecessary. The staff were rude and unhelpful. The fast food area is dirty and the tables are not cleaned regularly. Not what you expect in an international airport. The airport needs some decent management. I am unlikely to fly Gulf Air again if the stopover is in Muscat.

Seeb departure is a dump. You can see the change since the government fired the crowd running it. It was really starting to become a decent airport but now with nobody running it its going one way and tht is down. There was only one person at the 3 fast food places and she could only provide one meal at each place. Food area was dirty. They need some decent management again.