Egypt Airshow: Air Cairo in market to expand fleet

The Egyptian LCC has just received its 16th A320neo, with the final two expected by the end of this year, giving it a total fleet of 28 neo and ceo. From early next year, however, the company plans to acquire six more A320ceo; four will replace older-vintage A320ceos to keep the fleet’s average age down, with the other two for growth, chairman and CEO, Ahmed Shanan said at the show.

That will take the Airbus fleet to 30, together with three Embraer 190 E1 small narrowbodies and six ATR 72-600 turboprops.

However, the aim is to greatly increase the fleet, taking it to 72 by the end of the decade. Most of the new arrivals will be more A320s, although models have still to be decided upon and “maybe some will be A321neo. We’re doing a study on that for specific routes.”

Air Cairo is seeking to increase traffic from the UK to Red Sea resorts, for example, and the larger-capacity A321neo would fit that role well, he said.

Red Sea resorts such as Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh and Marsa Alam form an important part of Air Cairo’s traffic and Shanan said that the intention is to set up a base at Hurghada: “We’re planning to put 20 to 25 aircraft in Hurghada, to cover all of Europe.”

The Embraers, meanwhile, serve both domestic and short-haul international routes, while the ATRs are used for domestic work.

“We’re just planning new routes for the ATRs now,” Shanan said. The airline is looking at operating a shuttle service between Aswan and Abu Simbel in Upper Egypt, both major historic sites that attract many tourists, as well as between Aswan and Luxor, to connect with Nile cruises, and from Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh to the new Sphinx International Airport, on the western edge of Cairo, to allow tourists to visit the new Grand Egyptian Museum.

Despite the current geopolitical unrest in the region, only flights to Sharm El Sheikh have been affected “a little, but the rest are fine."

Air Cairo is owned 60% by EgyptAir and is planning to set up a codeshare arrangement with the flag-carrier; this would see Air Cairo funnelling flights into the Egyptian capital, to connect on to long-haul EgyptAir flights.