Air Cairo

Air Cairo

Air Cairo Airbus A320neo landing in Berlin Brandenburg Airport
IATA ICAO Callsign
SM MSC AIR CAIRO
Founded2003; 21 years ago (2003)
Operating bases
Fleet size31 (2023)
Destinations61
Parent companyEgyptair
360 INVESTMENTS
HeadquartersCairo, Egypt
Key peopleHussein Sherif (CEO)
Employees500[1]
Websitewww.aircairo.com

Air Cairo is a hybrid airline based in Cairo, Egypt.[2] The airline is part owned by Egyptair. Air Cairo operates scheduled flights to the Middle East and Europe and also operates charter flights to Egypt from Europe on behalf of tour operators. Its bases are Cairo International Airport, Sharm El Sheikh International Airport and Hurghada International Airport with the company head office located in the Sheraton Heliopolis Zone.[3]

History[edit]

An Air Cairo Airbus A320-200 in the previous livery

The airline was established in 2003. It is owned by Egyptair (60%), 360 INVESTMENTS (40%).[citation needed]

Recently, the company is re-modeling towards the low fare model which is planned to be the strongest low fare airline in Egypt. On 1 June 2012 Air Cairo launched its first ever scheduled flight from Borg El Arab Airport Alexandria to Kuwait International Airport, Queen Alia International Airport, King Abdulaziz International Airport, Tripoli International Airport, Sabha Airport, Misrata Airport and King Khaled International Airport. Air Cairo also launched its scheduled flights from Hurghada International Airport to Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. But those flights were suspended in the end of December 2015.[4]

On 5 November 2018, it was reported that the German aviation authority had banned Air Cairo - along with FlyEgypt - from flying to Germany, where it operated on behalf of German tour operators, due to regulatory violations.[5] Shortly afterward major European tour operators such as Thomas Cook Group and TUI Group announced they would end their contracts with Air Cairo and FlyEgypt.[6] Germany lifted their ban on 21 December.[7]

In March 2019, it was reported that the airline would be leasing Embraer 170 aircraft for operations on the airline's domestic routes within Egypt.[8]

In March 2021, Air Cairo announced it was to make a major push into the German-speaking market, having signed a sales cooperation agreement with SunExpress to market and manage up to 30 flights per week to the Red Sea resort of Hurghada from 14 airports in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Under the agreement, SunExpress will take care of all flight planning, revenue management, and sales; with Air Cairo operating the flights. In the course of the partnership, SunExpress and Air Cairo planned to expand the venture to other airports outside of German-speaking countries, SunExpress said in a statement. Air Cairo Chairman and chief executive officer Hussein Sherif said the Benelux countries would be targeted next. The aim of the sales push was to boost tourism to Egypt to pre-COVID-19 levels.[9]

Destinations[edit]

As of March 2023, Air Cairo operates scheduled services - without leisure charters - to the following airports:[10]

Country City Airport Notes Refs
Albania Tirana Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza
Armenia Yerevan Zvartnots International Airport [11][12]
Austria Vienna Vienna International Airport [13][14]
Azerbaijan Baku Heydar Aliyev International Airport
Bosnia and Herzegovina Banja Luka Banja Luka International Airport Seasonal
Sarajevo Sarajevo International Airport
Burkina Faso Ouagadougou Thomas Sankara International Airport Ouagadougou [15]
Czech Republic Prague Václav Havel Airport Prague [16]
Denmark Billund Billund Airport Terminated [17]
Copenhagen Copenhagen Airport Terminated [17]
Egypt Abu Simbel Abu Simbel Airport Terminated [18]
Alexandria Borg El Arab Airport Base
Assiut Assiut Airport
Aswan Aswan International Airport [19]
Cairo Cairo International Airport Base
Giza Sphinx International Airport [20]
Hurghada Hurghada International Airport Base
Luxor Luxor International Airport [21]
Marsa Alam Marsa Alam International Airport
Marsa Matruh Marsa Matruh International Airport
Sharm El Sheikh Sharm El Sheikh International Airport Base
Sohag Sohag International Airport
France Lyon Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport Seasonal [22]
Marseille Marseille Provence Airport Seasonal [22]
Nantes Nantes Atlantique Airport Seasonal [22]
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport Seasonal [22]
Georgia Tbilisi Tbilisi International Airport Terminated
Germany Berlin Berlin Brandenburg Airport [13][14]
Bremen Bremen Airport Terminated [13][14]
Cologne/Bonn Cologne Bonn Airport [13][14]
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf Airport [23]
Frankfurt Frankfurt Airport [23]
Hamburg Hamburg Airport [13][14]
Hannover Hannover Airport [13][14]
Leipzig/Halle Leipzig/Halle Airport [13][14]
Munich Munich Airport [13][14]
Münster/Osnabrück Münster Osnabrück Airport [24]
Nuremberg Nuremberg Airport [13][14]
Stuttgart Stuttgart Airport [13][14]
Hungary Budapest Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport [25]
Italy Bari Bari Karol Wojtyła Airport [26]
Bergamo Orio al Serio International Airport Terminated [27]
Bologna Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport
Catania Catania–Fontanarossa Airport Seasonal [28]
Milan Milan Malpensa Airport [26]
Naples Naples International Airport [26]
Rome Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport [26]
Venice Venice Marco Polo Airport Terminated [29]
Jordan Amman Queen Alia International Airport
Aqaba King Hussein International Airport Terminated [30]
Kuwait Kuwait City Kuwait International Airport [16]
Lebanon Beirut Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport [16]
Morocco Tangier Tangier Ibn Battouta Airport [31]
North Macedonia Skopje Skopje International Airport
Poland Katowice Katowice Airport Terminated
Warsaw Warsaw Chopin Airport Terminated [16]
Portugal Lisbon Lisbon Airport
Qatar Doha Hamad International Airport
Russia Kazan Ğabdulla Tuqay Kazan International Airport [32]
Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport Seasonal [32]
Saint Petersburg Pulkovo Airport Seasonal [32]
Ufa Mustai Karim Ufa International Airport [32]
Yekaterinburg Koltsovo Airport Seasonal [32]
Saudi Arabia Abha Abha International Airport [33]
Qassim Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz International Airport
Jeddah King Abdulaziz International Airport
Medina Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz Airport
Dammam King Fahd International Airport
Riyadh King Khalid International Airport
Yanbu Yanbu Airport [34]
Senegal Dakar Blaise Diagne International Airport [15]
Serbia Belgrade Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport
Slovakia Bratislava Bratislava Airport [16]
Spain Bilbao Bilbao Airport
Málaga Málaga Airport [21]
Valencia Valencia Airport
Switzerland Zürich Zurich Airport [23]
Switzerland
France
Germany
Basel
Mulhouse
Freiburg
EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg [13][14]
United Arab Emirates Dubai Al Maktoum International Airport [35]
Uzbekistan Tashkent Tashkent International Airport [36]

Codeshare agreements[edit]

Air Cairo has a codeshare agreement with the following airline:

In addition, Air Cairo has a sales cooperation agreement with SunExpress to market and manage up to 30 flights per week to the Red Sea resort of Hurghada from 14 airports in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.[14]

Fleet[edit]

Air Cairo Airbus A320neo

As of September 2023, the Air Cairo fleet consists of the following aircraft:[38]

Air Cairo fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
Airbus A320-200 8 174
Airbus A320neo 14[39] 186
ATR 72-600 6[40] 70
Embraer 190 3[41] 110
Total 31

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Airlines based in Egypt: Air Cairo". airlineupdate. Retrieved 12 June 2016.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Air Cairo". www.aircairo.com. Air Cairo. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  3. ^ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-03-27. pp. 53–54.
  4. ^ "Er Kairo otkazao sve letove iz BG" [Air Cairo canceled all flights from BG]. b92.net (in Serbian).
  5. ^ airliners.de - "Two Egypt carriers banned from landing in Germany" 5 December 2018
  6. ^ "TUI Group, Thomas Cook drop use of FlyEgypt, Air Cairo". ch-aviation. 11 December 2018. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
  7. ^ "Ägypten: Auch Air Cairo darf wieder ab Deutschland fliegen" [Egypt: Air Cairo is also allowed to fly from Germany again]. airliners.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-02-19.
  8. ^ "Egypt's Air Cairo to add wet-leased Embraer capacity in 2Q19". ch-aviation.com. 18 March 2019.
  9. ^ "Egypt's Air Cairo, SunExpress ink cooperation agreement". ch-aviation.com. 8 March 2021.
  10. ^ "Air Cairo".
  11. ^ "Air Cairo adds Armenia service from June 2017". routesonline.com.
  12. ^ "Air Cairo Adds Yerevan Service From June 2024". AeroRoutes. 27 March 2024. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Flight plan". sunexpress.com.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Egypt's Air Cairo, SunExpress ink cooperation agreement". ch-aviation.com. 8 March 2021.
  15. ^ a b "Air Cairo moves West Africa debut to late-Dec 2023". AeroRoutes. 23 November 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  16. ^ a b c d e "Air Cairo S17 Europe service additions". routesonline.com.
  17. ^ a b "Air Cairo to resume three services from Sharm el-Sheikh to Italy from December 2020". aaco.org. 20 January 2021.
  18. ^ "Air Cairo files Abu Simbel – Aswan schedule from Oct 2019". routesonline.com. 26 July 2019.
  19. ^ "Air Cairo July - October 2022 ATR72 Operations". aeroroutes.com. 21 July 2022.
  20. ^ "Be the first to travel from Sphinx International Airport with Air Cairo special prices". aircairo.com. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  21. ^ a b "Air Cairo NS22 International Network Additions". aeroroutes.com. 7 April 2022. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  22. ^ a b c d "Air Cairo 4Q22 France / Italy Network Additions". aeroroutes.com. 12 July 2022.
  23. ^ a b c "Air Cairo flies from Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Zurich to Hurghada". aerotelegraph.com. 16 December 2020.
  24. ^ "Air Cairo NS23 Network Additions – 13Oct22". aeroroutes.com. 14 October 2022.
  25. ^ Liu, Jim (5 October 2020). "Air Cairo resumes Hurghada – Budapest service from Nov 2020". routesonline.com.
  26. ^ a b c d "Air Cairo returns to flights from Italy to the Red Sea from 23 July". askanews.it. 28 May 2021.
  27. ^ "Air Cairo schedules new Italian routes in S19". routesonline.com. 2018.
  28. ^ "AIR CAIRO OUTLINES EMBRAER E190 OPERATIONS IN NS23". aeroroutes.com. 29 November 2022.
  29. ^ "Air Cairo W18 network additions". routesonline.com.
  30. ^ Liu, Jim (30 September 2019). "Air Cairo adds Aqaba service from Oct 2019". routesonline.com.
  31. ^ "Air Cairo moves Tangier launch to January 2024". AeroRoutes. 1 November 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  32. ^ a b c d e "Air Cairo Adds Southwind 550-seater Boeing 777 Service in NW23". AeroRoutes. 1 November 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  33. ^ "AIR CAIRO ADDS ABHA SERVICE FROM DEC 2022". aeroroutes.com. 14 November 2022.
  34. ^ "Air Cairo plans Yanbu April 2017 launch". routesonline.com.
  35. ^ "AIR CAIRO SCHEDULES NEW SHARM EL SHEIKH ROUTES IN NS23". aeroroutes.com. 26 January 2023.
  36. ^ "Air Cairo is operating a new route between Sharm El Sheikh and Tashkent in Uzbekistan". aaco.org. 18 November 2020.
  37. ^ "Egyptair and Air Cairo sign codeshare agreement". arabianaerospace.aero. 1 September 2020.
  38. ^ "Air Cairo fleet". flightradar24.com.
  39. ^ "Air Cairo receives its first Airbus A320neo | Airbus".
  40. ^ "Egypt's Air Cairo inducts first turboprop, an ATR72-600". Ch-Aviation. 18 July 2022.
  41. ^ "Air Cairo's New Embraer 190s". airspace-africa.com. 3 January 2023.

External links[edit]

Media related to Air Cairo at Wikimedia Commons