Air Cairo fleet to reach 60 carriers in 2027
By Mohamed Attia
The Ministry of Civil Aviation is continuing to support the fleet of EgyptAir and Air Cairo during the current period as Minister of Civil Aviation Mohamed Abbas Helmy witnessed during the past days the ceremony of the national air carrier EgyptAir receiving its first Airbus A321 NEO aircraft, which arrived at Cairo International Airport coming from Hamburg Airport in Germany to be the first airline in Africa to include this model in its fleet.
The new aircraft, “A321 neo”, is the largest in the single-aisle A320 family and the best-selling Airbus and uses 25% lower fuel consumption per seat than previous generation competitors.
For his part, Minister Abbas expressed his happiness at the joining of the first aircraft of EgyptAir in its new deal, Airbus A321 NEO, to its air fleet, which includes 6 other aircraft, and which will arrive successively until the end of 2023.
He also referred to the fruitful co-operation and joint and effective efforts with Airbus as one of the transport industry partners.
Abbas said that the relationship between the two companies dates back to the early eighties in the first deal to purchase 8 Airbus aircraft (A300-B4).
Since then, the relationship has been strengthened and continued for more than forty years and Airbus aircraft have become an essential component in the modernization of the national company’s fleet.
Yehia Zakaria, Chairman of EgyptAir, announced the development of the company’s fleet to become one of the latest air models, as well as the development of services to exceed the expectations of the company’s customers.
He also highlighted that the company is proud of being the first airline in Africa to operate this type of Airbus A321neo aircraft, which is equipped with engines of the model CFM, as this aircraft is one of the best-selling single-aisle aircraft in the world and is equipped with the latest innovative technologies and represents the ideal choice for EgyptAir to meet the increasing demand for the company’s lines, especially in saving operating costs.
He added that it is characterized by 20% less emissions and fuel consumption per seat.
“The addition of this aircraft to the EgyptAir fleet comes within the framework of the company’s strategy for the year 2025, which aims to modernize and develop all the company’s aircraft,” he said.
Zakaria confirmed that EgyptAir is a major partner of Airbus in the Middle East and Africa, saying that the company is proud of this exemplary partnership to serve and develop the air transport industry.
“This fruitful co-operation began in 1982, with eight A300-B4 aircraft, followed by the accession of many models such as the A220, the A320, A321, and A330, and the co-operation extended to include various fields in the air transport industry, such as maintenance, training, and others,” he said.
AirCairo is also witnessing support for its fleet.
Hussein Sherif, President of AirCairo, stated that its air fleet will reach 30 aircraft by the end of March.
The company received its 20th Airbus A320 at the beginning of the same month, and it is scheduled to receive another plane from the same model before the end of March, in addition to its E190 and ATR72-600 aircraft.
Sherif added that the company is pursuing an ambitious plan to support its air fleet and expand its network of routes to connect Egyptian tourist attractions with countries of the world, in co-ordination with EgyptAir to form an integrated network covering most international cities, in order to accommodate the expected increase in tourism traffic to Egypt during the coming period.
He added that the company’s fleet is planned to reach 60 aircraft by the year 2027, as the company’s fleet reached 7 aircraft in 2020, stressing that Air Cairo will witness a quantum leap in terms of the number of frequencies, daily flights, the increase of new destinations and the expansion of the network of routes.
