Salalah Airport became operational in 1977 and was only handling domestic flights from the capital Muscat and few other domestic charter flights.  During July 2003, there was an increase in passenger traffic especially after Oman Air started operating direct flight to Dubai on scheduled all year round basis.  Other Gulf carriers also operated scheduled flights to Salalah during the Khareef season.

During April 2004, Air India became the first foreign airline to start direct international flights to Salalah being operated all year round, currently this service is operated by Air India Express to Kozhikode, India.

During 2005, Salalah was projected as a tourist destination in the European markets and consequently direct seasonal charter flights started from Europe to Salalah, this contributed to a significant increase in the passenger traffic.