Summary
- Egypt’s Tourism and Civil Aviation Committee calls for restructuring Egyptair after its exclusion from the highest 100 airlines list.
- The committee chairperson highlighted the necessity for safety evaluations and the introduction of competition from the private sector.
- Despite slipping in rankings, Egyptair stays the second-largest African airline by fleet size, with 80 aircraft.
Egypt’s Tourism and Civil Aviation Committee of the House of Representatives has called for restructuring the national carrier Egyptair to enhance the airline’s service and rating. That is attributable to the airline’s exclusion from the list of the world’s top 100 airlines, in addition to the highest 10 Arab airlines in 2023.
Fresh calls to restructure Egyptair
The Tourism and Civil Aviation Committee met with Egypt’s Minister of Civil Aviation, Mohamed Helmy, Egyptair officials, and various stakeholders on Wednesday, January 17. While making its recommendations regarding the state-owned company, the committee chairperson, Nora Ali, highlighted the carrier’s status as certainly one of the oldest Arab airlines and the second-largest African airline by fleet size.
Suradech Singhanat | Shutterstock
As reported by Ahram Online, Ali stated that Egyptair must conduct rigorous safety and security evaluations regarding aircraft leasing and procurement contracts. Meanwhile, the committee also really useful the introduction of competition from the private sector to encourage growth and repair enhancement, which can contribute to developing the country’s tourism sector.
Egyptair Keen On Getting Transit Traffic From India
The airline recently began operating out of Latest Delhi, along with its existing service from Mumbai.
In accordance with Minister Helmy, within the last ten years, Egypt has invested about $660 million (EGP28.83 billion) to develop the air transport sector. He added that the variety of passengers flying to and from the North African country increased from 33 million in 2015 to over 43 million in 2023. Last yr, Egyptian airports saw a 28% increase in passenger traffic and a 23% increase in aircraft movements, with Cairo International Airport (CAI) remaining the busiest. The state plans to extend the variety of passengers to 109 million by 2030.
Slipping down the rankings
The committee’s recommendations come as Egyptair was not listed within the Skytrax World Airline Awards for the highest 100 airlines in 2023. Within the previous yr, the corporate was ninety fifth behind its African counterparts Air Mauritius, Kenya Airways, South African Airways, Royal Air Maroc, and Ethiopian Airlines. Nevertheless, this was an improvement from its 121st position in 2021.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Easy Flying
Early last yr, Helmy stated that Egyptair’s poor financial performance and losses in 2022 resulted from the depreciation of the Egyptian Pound (EGP) against the US Dollar and the rise in jet fuel prices. The civil aviation minister also indicated a financial improvement in the primary quarter of FY2023/2024 as the corporate added more aircraft to its fleet.
Egyptair fleet in 2023
Despite the decrease in rating, Egyptair stays the second-largest airline in Africa by fleet size. In accordance with ch-aviation, it has a complete of 80 aircraft in its fleet and 28 more on order. It’s also certainly one of the biggest Boeing 737 operators on the continent, with 29 of the kind in service. The remainder of its fleet comprises the next aircraft.
Airbus
- A220-300: 12
- A320neo: 8
- A321neo: 7
- A320-200: 3
- A330-200: 4
- A330-300: 4
Boeing
- B777-300ER: 6
- B787-9 Dreamliner: 7
Photo: Egyptair
The carrier also has ten Airbus A350-900s and 18 Boeing 737-8s on order from the agreements signed on the 2023 Dubai Airshow. The corporate’s cargo division, Egyptair Cargo, has a fleet of 4 aircraft, comprising one B737-800SF and three A330-200P2Fs. Alternatively, its subsidiary Air Cairo currently has 31 aircraft in its fleet, including 14 A320neos, eight A320-200s, three ERJ 190s, and 6 ATR72-600s.
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