25% discounts on int’l flights
EgyptAir, the national air carrier, celebrates its 91st anniversary, on Sunday May 7.
By Mohamed Attia
The company, the world-renowned national airline of Egypt, started operations on May 7th 1932 as the first airline in the Middle East and Africa and the seventh airline in the world to join IATA and become a treasured brand.
The national company announced offering discounts of 25 per cent on all international tickets.
The company’s development continued over those long years, bringing the size of its fleet to 74 aircraft of the latest models.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation, under the leadership of Lieutenant General Pilot Mohamed Abbas, announced providing the national company’s fleet with 6 Airbus A321 NEO aircraft, which will arrive successively until the end of 2023.
The national company’s flights cover more than 70 direct destinations around the world and its customers hit more than 1,300 points in 193 countries through its membership in the global Star Alliance network.
For his part, Chairman of the EgyptAir Holding Company Yehia Zakaria confirmed that the coming period will witness the opening of several new airlines. He said that the company would continue its expansion plan to cover the largest possible number of destinations around the world through its direct lines and within the global Star Alliance network.
EgyptAir is working around the clock to expand its network of routes, odernise air fleet and attract more customers, which contributes to revitalizing air traffic to Egyptian tourist destinations.
Company establishment
The idea of establishing a national airline started in the twenties of the last century. The great economist Talaat Harb adopted the idea and took upon himself the dream of some Egyptian youth, who attempted at that time to form an Egyptian company for civil aviation.
At the head of these experiments was the attempt of Kamal Elwi, who travelled to Paris in 1929 to learn there the arts of aviation and bought a plane, the first to be registered in Egypt and bore the registration letters SU-AAA, and he then gifted it to the EgyptAir company.
Then the idea of establishing EgyptAir began to complete its image in the mind, especially with the success of the arrival of Pilot Mohamed Sedki, as the first Egyptian pilot to arrive with his plane, “Princess Faiza” from Berlin to Cairo on January 26, 1930, the day on which we celebrate the Civil Aviation Day.
Royal Decree
Indeed, Kamal Elwi, Mohamed Sedki and Talaat Harbco-operated to achieve the dream through Banque Misr. The efforts resulted in the issuance of the Royal Decree on May 7, 1932 establishing EgyptAir. The Memorandum of Association stipulates that Egyptians own at least 60 per cent of its shares. The company’s initial capital was worth around LE20,000.The company has two names, “Egyptian Air Lines Company,” and “MisrAir Work” as Egyptian and British shareholders owned it.
The company started its operations through training and outings at Almaza airport.
On June 30, 1933, Almaza airport received two de Havilland DH.84 Dragon, each with a capacity of four passengers. Its first flights were to Alexandria and Mersa Matrouh.
The company started to gain trust during that period when the first flight between Jeddah and Medina took place in 1936.EgyptAir was the first plane in the world to land in each of the two cities.
After World War II in 1939, the company began a new phase in its history, as its capital became entirely Egyptian after the withdrawal of the British foreign partner, Airwork. The company’s name was changed to Misr Airlines in 1941.
Big boom
In 1980, Engineer Mohamed Faheem Rayan became General Commissioner of EgyptAir, then assumed the presidency of its board of directors in 1981 until 2002, during which EgyptAir witnessed several successes.
EgyptAir fleet has meticulously increased at the time. Around eight Airbus aircraft (A300-B4) were purchased to cover the destinations of Europe and the Middle East, then 3 long-range Boeing 767/200 aircraft, followed by the purchase of two Boeing 767/300 aircraft to meet the requirements of distant markets. After that, EgyptAir purchased 7new Airbus (A320-200) aircraft to serve the tourist attractions in Egypt and to transfer tourists from abroad to visit archaeological sites across the country.
The company purchased five new Boeing 737/500 aircraft, in addition to buying3 Boeing 777/200 aircraft and 3 Airbus (A340-200) ultra-long range aircraft to cover the North American and Japanese destinations.
EgyptAir has purchased 4 Airbus aircraft (A321-200) to serve the new and promising markets, bringing the total costs of development and renewal of the company’s fleet to more than $3,112 billion.
The January 25 Revolution, 2011 had negative consequences that affected the company, as the percentage of tourism decreased significantly due to the security instability at that time.
EgyptAir suffered large losses that amounted to 10 billion pounds in 5 years due to the decrease in local and global flights, political events and wars in the Arab region, which led to the closure of some airlines.
Therefore, EgyptAir has conducted several tourism promotion campaigns for the delegations of some countries to stimulate the tourism movement in an attempt to restore the operation rate to its normal levels.
At the end of 2017, EgyptAir signed a contract at the Dubai Airshow to lease and purchase 45 state-of-the-art aircraft, including 24 CS300s for Canadian Bombardier companies and 6 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners powered by Rolls-Royce engines, in addition to the lease of 15 Airbus A320Neo aircraft, powered by CMF LEAP engines. This was known as the deal of the century that had never happened in the company’s history before.
National role
The national role of EgyptAir appears to be evident in crises and disasters. During the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic,EgyptAir organized hundreds of exceptional flights carrying thousands of stranded people from all over the world, in coordination with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Immigration.
During the political events in Libya and Syria, EgyptAir has transported great numbers of Egyptians working and living in the two countries.
EgyptAir also orgnaised a number of humanitarian flights after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, to transport Egyptian students stranded in Poland and Romania after they crossed Ukrainian border fleeing the war.
EgyptAir is working during the current period to expand its activities within the African continent, as the company reaches 19 points in Africa in addition to more than 40 other destinations through code sharing.
EgyptAir also succeeded in operating the first flight with environmentally friendly services between Cairo and Paris, the first of its kind in the African continent.
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