Opening up Empty Quarter airspace to help save flight time to Africa

Muscat: Flights to western countries will now be shorter as Oman has decided to open up its airspace over the Empty Quarter, (Rub' al Khali) according to Oman's Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA). "As a part of its effort to increase the absorption capacity of Omani airspace, the authority is developing new air routes (for the) West over the Empty Quarter, with Saudi Arabian airspace. These air routes will contribute to reducing the time-span of incoming flights to the Sultanate's airports and attracting more flights," PACA announced on Monday.