Salalah International Airport (SLL) Statistics

Salalah International Airport (SLL) is the main air gateway to Oman’s Dhofar region, connecting Salalah with Muscat, regional Gulf hubs and seasonal leisure markets. The airport plays a particularly important role during the Khareef monsoon season, when visitor demand to southern Oman rises sharply.

Salalah International Airport handled 1.53 million total passengers in 2024, up 4.8% from 2023.

• From 2014 through 2018, total passenger traffic rose from 842,044 to 1.39 million, with the period peaking at 1.52 million passengers in 2017.
• The pre-pandemic baseline was 2019, when SLL handled 1.37 million total passengers.
• Pandemic disruption reduced passenger traffic by 71.7% in 2020, bringing the total down to 386,107.
• The post-pandemic recovery lifted traffic from 642,910 passengers in 2021 to 1.13 million in 2022, 1.46 million in 2023, and 1.53 million in 2024.
• By 2024, total passenger traffic was 11.7% above the 2019 pre-pandemic level.

Note: Total passengers combine arrivals and departures.

SLL recorded 10,458 flights in 2024, almost unchanged from 10,442 flights in 2023.

• From 2014 through 2018, flight activity was uneven, moving from 13,555 flights in 2014 to 12,190 in 2018, with the period’s highest point at 15,019 flights in 2015.
• The pre-pandemic baseline was 2019, when SLL recorded 11,886 flights.
• Pandemic disruption reduced flights by 71.5% in 2020, bringing the annual total down to 3,384.
• The recovery phase lifted flights to 5,071 in 2021, 8,672 in 2022, 10,442 in 2023, and 10,458 in 2024.
• By 2024, flight activity was still 12% below the 2019 pre-pandemic level.

August was SLL’s busiest month in 2024, with 286,576 total passengers.

• August accounted for 18.7% of SLL’s total passenger traffic in 2024.
• July was the second-busiest month, with 198,535 passengers.
• June through August brought 591,838 passengers, equal to 38.6% of the year’s total traffic.
• October was the quietest month in 2024, with 91,296 passengers.

Note: June-August is used as a consistent Khareef-season window for the monthly traffic summary. Khareef is southern Oman’s annual monsoon season, when cooler weather and mist turn the Dhofar region green and draw a seasonal surge in visitors to Salalah.

SLL’s current passenger terminal is 65,000 square meters, with capacity for 2 million passengers per year.

• The current passenger terminal is listed at 65,000 square meters.
• The terminal’s published annual design capacity is 2 million passengers.
• The verified official airport information supports the existing terminal capacity, but not a dated implementation schedule for a 6 million passenger phase, second runway or cargo logistics zone.

Note: Published capacity is design capacity, not annual traffic handled.