Sur Airport

The primary reason for the closure was replacement and redundancy. The Omani government constructed the new, modern Ras al Hadd Airport (IATA: RAH, ICAO: OORH) approximately 40 km to the east of Sur as part of a national strategy to develop a network of regional airports to boost tourism and economic activity. The old Sur airstrip was an unpaved, rudimentary facility with no significant infrastructure, making it completely obsolete with the advent of the new, fully-equipped airport designed to handle larger aircraft.

The site of the former airport is currently abandoned and unused for any formal purpose. Recent satellite imagery shows the faint, degraded outline of the single runway (oriented approximately 03/21). The area is undeveloped desert land, and the former airstrip is being slowly reclaimed by the natural environment, with numerous vehicle tracks now crisscrossing the runway path. There is no remaining aviation infrastructure, such as buildings, hangars, or lighting, on the site.

The old Sur Airport was a simple, unpaved airstrip that served as a crucial air link for the historically significant coastal city of Sur before the modern highway network was fully developed. It did not handle scheduled commercial passenger services. Its operations were limited to small, STOL-capable (Short Take-Off and Landing) aircraft. The airstrip was primarily used for functional purposes, including flights by the Royal Oman Police Air Wing for surveillance and transport, medical evacuations, government-related travel, and logistical support for industrial operations in the region, such as those by Petroleum Development Oman (PDO). Its importance was in providing essential air access to a relatively remote area.

There are zero plans or prospects for reopening the old Sur airstrip. All regional aviation investment and strategic focus are directed towards the new Ras al Hadd Airport. The old site is considered permanently closed and holds no place in Oman's future transportation or aviation development plans. Its reopening would be economically and logistically unviable.