Royal Flight of Oman

Royal Flight of Oman
Royal Standard of the Sultan of Oman
Active	1974 - present
Country	Sultanate of Oman
Allegiance	Oman
Role	VIP Transport
Part of	The Diwan of Royal Court Affairs
Main operating base	Muscat International Airport (MCT/OOMS) [1]
Paint scheme on fixed wing aircraft	All over white with red and green cheatline with national flag on tail fin [2]
ICAO and IATA Codes	ORF and RS
Commanders
Commander of His Majesty’s Royal Flight Oman	Captain Suleiman Bin Harith al Barashdi (since 2010) [3] [4]
Aircraft flown
Transport	Airbus A319 & A320, Boeing 747, Gulfstream 550 & VIP helicopters

Boeing 747 SP27, with the SATCOM bulge on top of fuselage.

Boeing 747 430.

Airbus A320.

Airbus A319.

One of the RFO's Gulfstream 550s (A40-AE/Al Hazim).

C-130J departing RAF Fairford (this is a RAFO air frame - one of three C-130Js delivered to Oman).

Super Puma II.

The Royal Flight of Oman (RFO) is the VIP air transport capability embedded within the Sultan of Oman's Royal Household. The Royal Flight is not a military organisation, but rather part of the Diwan of Royal Court Affairs; ^[5] it is not part of the Royal Guard of Oman. ^[6]

The RFO was formed in 1974 and started with a few fixed wing aircraft, rotary wing aircraft were added in 1975. ^{[7] [8]}

The RFO has its own staff housing and welfare complex (including a club and an international school) on Al Matar Street near Muscat International Airport. ^[9]

Bases

The RFO has one permanent operating base and a secondary base: ^[10]

• Muscat International Airport - in a segregated and separately secured VIP terminal and hangar area ^{[11] [12]}
• Salalah International Airport - is used regularly and there is a segregated and separately secured VIP terminal supporting RFO activities.

RFO aircraft will also make use of Omani regional airports and RAFO airbases as necessary.

Current inventory

The RFO operates the following aircraft types:^{[ citation needed ]}

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Variant	Numbers	Registration/Nickname	Notes
Passenger Jet Aircraft
Boeing 747SP	United States	VIP Transport	SP27	1	A4O-SO/Sohar [13]	Delivered 02/07/1984
Boeing 747-400	United States	VIP Transport	430	1	A4O-OMN/Sohar [14]	Delivered 30/04/2004
Boeing 747-8	United States	VIP Transport	747-8	1	A4O-HMS/Nizwa [15]	Delivered 2012 [16]
Airbus A319	Germany	VIP Transport	133 CJ	1	A4O-AJ/Khasab [17]	Delivered Feb 2013
Airbus A320	France	VIP Transport	233	1	A4O-AA/Saiq [18]	Delivered Dec 2005
General Dynamics Gulfstream G550	United States	VIP Transport	G550	2	A4O-AD/Masirah [19] A4O-AE/Al Hazim [20]	Delivered Jul 2011[ citation needed ]
Transport Aircraft
Lockheed Martin C-130 Super Hercules	United States	Medium lift transport	J variant	1	525 [21]	Delivered 2012 [22]
Passenger Rotary Wing Aircraft
Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma II	France	VIP Transport	EC225LP	6	A4O-HD, A4O-HE, A4O-HF A4O-HMA, A4O-HMB, A4O-HMC	Delivered 2007
Eurocopter AS550 Fennec	France	VIP Transport	AS550C3	3	07, 08, & 09 [23]	Delivered 2005

Fixed wing aircraft in the RFO's fleet are normally painted all over white, with a mid-fuselage red and green cheatline. The tail fin carries the national flag of the Sultanate of Oman. The only script painted on the fuselage is in Arabic and the aircraft are named after places in the Sultanate. The RFO's C-130 transport aircraft and its helicopters are painted in a desert camouflage scheme.

References

1. "Scramble - Oman". www.scramble.nl. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
2. Bowman, Martin (2014). Boeing 747: A History: Delivering the Dream. Pen and Sword. ISBN   9781473838239 . Retrieved 11 August 2017.
3. "The Second Region MID Safety Summit April 2014" (PDF). www.icao.int. ICAO IATA. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
4. "Home Page - Gulf in the Media". www.gulfinthemedia.com. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
5. "Royal Flight of Oman - PILOT CAREER CENTRE". www.pilotcareercentre.com. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
6. "Oman Yellow Pages". www.omantel-yellowpages.com. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
7. "Oman Royal Flight". Aeroflight. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
8. "Oman Royal Flight". Helis.com. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
9. "The Royal Flight International School | Muscat Football Academy". muscatfootballacademy.com. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
10. "Airport Projects Joannou & Paraskevaides Group" (PDF). Archived from the original on August 11, 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
11. Ripley, Tim (2010). Middle East Air Power in the 21st Century. Casemate Publishers. pp. 160–161. ISBN   9781848840997 . Retrieved 11 August 2017.
12. Allen, Calvin H.; II, W. Lynn Rigsbee (2014). Oman Under Qaboos: From Coup to Constitution, 1970-1996. Routledge. ISBN   9781135314378 . Retrieved 11 August 2017.
13. "Oman - Royal Flight Boeing 747SP photo by Maximilian Kramer" . Retrieved 26 July 2021.
14. "Oman - Royal Flight Boeing 747-400 photo by Lars Hentschel" . Retrieved 26 July 2021.
15. "Oman - Royal Flight Boeing 747-400 photo by John Ballantyne" . Retrieved 26 July 2021.
16. "FlightSource - Aviation Photo Database". www.flightsource.ca. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
17. "A4O-AJ Airbus A319-133(CJ) Oman - Royal Flight | JetPhotos". JetPhotos. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
18. "F-WWDG Airbus A320-232 Oman - Royal Flight JetPhotos". JetPhotos. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
19. "DSC08987 - HostingPics.net - Hébergement d'images gratuit". www.hostingpics.net (in French). Retrieved 11 August 2017.
20. "Aviation Photo 2037129: Gulfstream Aerospace G-V-SP Gulfstream G550 - (Oman Royal Flight)". Airliners.net. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
21. "Aviation Photo: Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 Hercules - (Oman Royal Flight)". Airliners.net. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
22. "C-130J Super Hercules Celebrates One Million Flight Hours, Code One Magazine" . Retrieved 11 August 2017.
23. "AS550 Fennec in Oman Royal Flight". Helis.com. Retrieved 11 August 2017.