Billy and Shirley Madison, along with their daughter, Amanda, went to the New Muscat International Airport on a Saturday.
Their check-in luggage consisted of four big suitcases. Billy carried a backpack and the ladies carried small purses.
Their journey began at the Oman Convention and Exhibition Center where they were given brand new passports in Hall 1.
After a short briefing about the new airport and what to expect, they had coffee, dates, cupcakes, and pakodas.The hall was laid out with about a hundred tables covered with pristine white tablecloths. Each table had ten seats for the passengers who were waited on by courteous staff eager to please.
A fleet of new Mwasalat buses waited outside the Centre to ferry the passengers to the airport.
A friendly Omani young lady, Badriya, sat next to Shirley. After exchanging pleasantries, Badriya began filming the journey on her phone. She captured the view as the bus neared the airport, the buildings still under construction, the expansive parking zones, the main building itself with its recurrent motifs of crisscrossing wavy lines and an Islamic floral pattern.
"This video is for my family. I didn't bring the children along. They can be so distracting," Badriya said to Shirley.
Billy, Shirley, and Amanda were booked on an Oman Air flight to Munich. They looked at the indicators at the entrance for the counters which served Oman Air. After locating the right counter, they approached the check-in desk to a welcoming "Hello!" from the ground staff. Thankfully, the weight of their check-in luggaage was within the limit permitted. As their four suitcases, duly labelled and stickered, sailed away on the belt, they turned to the Immigration counters.
"Waleikum assalam!" replied the smiling officer to Billy's enthusiastic greeting of peace.
So far so good.
At the hand baggage screening, Amanda's backpack seemed to trigger an alarm. They asked if she carried any liquids. Oops, Shirley had tucked a half-full bottle of water into her daughter's backpack early that morning. It had to go. Shirley looked back at the wasted water in the bottle. However, she found that drinking water was available at strategic locations throughout the airport.
Next came the queue to the boarding gate. It was nearing boarding time and the gate wasn't open! Two young Omani lady staff members inside the gate struggled with the computer systems and looked quite uneasy. Billy pointed at his watch as he caught their attention through the glass screens. One of the young Omani ladies indicated him to wait for just a minute by touching her forefinger with her thumb and a pleading expression on her face.
But when the one-minute wait stretched into a quarter of an hour, all the passengers in the queue became restless. They were about to complain to the authorities when an experienced staff member rushed to the aid of the ladies and fixed whatever problem they were facing.
Soon the Madisons were in the spacious waiting area. They were politely requested to provide feedback on their departure experience on the electronic feedback screens lining the room.
At the door leading to the airplane, they turned.
They became arrivals!
"Hope you had a good journey. Welcome to Muscat!" smiled the person at the door who had just seen them off.
TEE...TOO...TEEE...TOOO...TEE...TOOOOOOOO
The fire alarm!!!
Everybody panicked and looked for exit directions. The staff on duty swiftly guided the passengers outdoors towards the assembly zones.
Firetrucks and ambulances zoomed by as the passengers gathered outside in the mid-day sun.
After a long time, it was safe for the passengers to enter the Arrivals area and proceed to the baggage collection belts.
Sounds of cascading water and a vertical garden were a welcome sight. Artistically embedded in the ceiling, a giant blue evil eye talisman symbol warded off bad luck.
The Madisons left the airport and boarded a bus to the Convention Center where a sumptous lunch awaited them.
As they left the Center, they received gift vouchers of OMR 10 each.
To the Lemos family, who gave up their role plays as The Madisons, it was embarrasing to accept the gift vouchers. As volunteers at the Muscat Airport Trials, they had had an enriching tour of new airport and a fabulous buffet lunch. The gift voucher was like a cherry on the cake.
Once again, they were overwhelmed by the Omani hospitality that they had experienced several times during their stay in this country.
(According to media reports, the New Muscat International Airport will become operational from March 20, 2018.)
This post was also published in the Outpost Newsletter, March-April, 2018
