The airline's inaugural flight took place in March 1993, when a leased Boeing 737-300 from Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services (AWAS) flew from Muscat to Salalah.

[6] Flights to other destinations quickly followed, with Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram) services starting in November, Kuwait and Karachi in January 1994, and Colombo in October 1994.

By the end of the following year, Gwadar, Peshawar, Jeddah and Al Ain were included in the airline's expanding route network, although the former two, along with a host of other destinations, were discontinued in 2000.

[8] This culminated in May 2007 when Oman withdrew from Gulf Air to focus on the development of its national flag carrier, leaving Bahrain as the sole owner of the airline.

[17][18] In 2011, Oman Air won the Gold award for the "Airline of the Year" at France's Laurier d'Or du Voyage d'Affaires.

[23] In addition, the Seven Stars Luxury Lifestyle and Hospitality Awards named Oman Air the "Best Airline in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa" for the second year in a row.

[24] In October 2018, the CEO of Oman Air, Abdulaziz bin Saud al Raisi, announced that the airline was aiming to add over 60 new destinations and 70 new aircraft by 2022.

[25] In June 2019, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) granted the level 4 New Distribution Capability (NDC) certification to the airline.

The expansion, effective since 1 October 2019, increased destinations for their flyers, where they were allowed to seamlessly travel beyond Nairobi to Entebbe in Uganda and Johannesburg in South Africa.

[27] In February 2021, Oman Air announced it would abandon fleet expansion plans due to lower demand as COVID-19 emerged.

Saeed Al Mawali, chairman of the airline, stated that the program would focus on four areas; financial sustainability, corporate governance, commercial aspects, and human capital.

[32] In November, following rolling delays, Oman Air announced that it expected to officially join the Oneworld alliance on 30 June 2025.

[citation needed] The current livery also features a white fuselage, but the vertical stabilizer changed to blue, and an incense smoke replacing the khanjar as the official logo.