Construction of the new Muscat International Airport will be completed this year, although work fell slightly behind schedule in 2015, a senior official told the Times of Oman.

Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Futaisi, Minister of Transport and Communications in Oman said the official launch date of the airport cannot be announced as it would take four to six months to start operating flights after construction has finished.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of the Ministry of Transport, the Times of Oman said.

Al Futaisi noted that 86% of the project was completed by the end of 2015 although the target was 90%. This was because of multiple factors including delays by the contractor, he said.

Commenting on the increase in air traffic in 2015, Mohammed bin Nasser bin Ali Al Zaabi, CEO of the Public Authority for Civil Aviation said that nearly 1,400 planes fly over the sultanate’s skies every day, an increase of 19% compared to 2014.