Launch of 1st int’l flight from SIA to Jeddah airport

Mohamed Attia and Mohamed Abo el-Soud

The first international flight took off today from Sphinx International Airport (SIA) to Jeddah Airport in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Air Cairo, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the low-cost arm of EgyptAir, organised the first flight using an Airbus 320 with 180 passengers onboard. This came within the framework of the ministry’s plan to activate air and tourism movement in the Egyptian airports.

Minister of Civil Aviation Mohamed Abbas said that launching the first international flight today from Sphinx International Airport, after operating domestic flights early last November, is a new step towards implementing Egypt’s strategy to reach 30 million tourists by year-end.

Abbas said that the Ministry of Civil Aviation has drawn up a number of incentivizing programmes to attract more tourists to Egypt from all over the world.

He stressed the ministry’s keenness to increase inbound tourism to Egypt, with a focus on the improvement of services provided to passengers. Abbas said that his ministry is working on a comprehensive plan to double the capacity of airports nationwide, in a way that contributes to boosting the national economy and achieving sustainable development.

Air Cairo will organise four flights per week from Sphinx airport to both Jeddah and Riyadh in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The company will increase the number of flights gradually. Air Cairo plans to operate international flights to a number of Arab and European countries in conjunction with opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza.

Air Cairo is currently operating 12 domestic flights that can be increased according to demand rates. The flights included Sharm el-Sheikh, Hurghada, Luxor and Aswan.

 The Sphinx International Airport is one of the most important new airports, due to its vicinity to the pyramids area and the Grand Egyptian Museum. This contributes to the link between tourist cities and archaeological areas.

The airport has a 975 square metre departure hall and a 1,100 square metre arrival hall. It also has a VIP hall.

The Sphinx airport is equipped with state-of-the-art technology in air traffic control and automatic landing systems and security systems such as x-ray explosive detectors and high end CCTV and thermal surveillance cameras.

Sphinx International Airport aims to relieve the congestion at Cairo International Airport.

The Sphinx International Airport serves tourists visiting Egyptian archaeological sites, mainly the Grand Egyptian Museum and the Giza Pyramids area. It helps to revitalize one-day tourism and ease overcrowding at Cairo Airport and Great Egyptian Museum.