Fleet growth key to Cairo's ambitions

Egyptian hybrid carrier Air Cairo has opened three new African destinations since December and is actively planning more in the next few years.

“Africa is new for us,” assistant commercial director, revenue and pricing, Ahmed Aziz said. Air Cairo began services to Dakar (Senegal) and Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) last December, together with Tangiers (Morocco) in January this year. The airline is also actively looking at beginning services to Tanzania.

In 2021, Air Cairo flew just six aircraft. BY the end of 2023 that number had ballooned to 22 Airbus A320s (nine ceos and 13 neos), three Embraer E190 regional jets, plus six ATR 72 turboprops. Three more A320neos are due to arrive this 2024.

The fleet growth will enable the Cairo-based carrier to rapidly ramp up its ambitions. After saying early in 2023 that it planned to reach 60 aircraft by 2027, it went further at last November’s World Travel Market in London and said that it now aims to have 110 aircraft by 2032.

Air Cairo operates around 300 domestic flights a week to destinations including Luxor, Aswan, Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh, using its ATRs, while the Embraers are used for short-haul international services around the Middle East and to Europe. The A320s undertake longer sectors, notably into Europe.

“We’re going to build our network to connect from Europe, to the Middle East, to Africa, not only for tourists but for VFR [Visiting Friends and Relatives],” Aziz said.

Air Cairo also plans to increase its links to Saudi Arabia, with one particular target sector being pilgrims traveling to the kingdom to perform haj and umrah.

The conflict in Gaza has had an adverse effect on the Air Cairo.

“Definitely it has affected us,” said Aziz. “It has affected Egypt as a destination.”

Air Cairo is keen to emphasise that Egypt remains stable, despite the proximity of the Hamas-Israel conflict.