Air Cairo Explained

Airline:	Air Cairo
Fleet Size:	34
Destinations:	61
Iata:	SM
Icao:	MSC
Callsign:	AIR CAIRO
Parent:	Egyptair 360 INVESTMENTS
Headquarters:	Cairo, Egypt
Key People:	Hussein Sherif (CEO)
Bases:	Cairo International Airport Hurghada International Airport
Num Employees:	500^[1]

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

The airline was established in 2003. It is owned by Egyptair (60%) and 360 INVESTMENTS (40%).

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

, 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]
Austria	Vienna	Vienna International Airport
Azerbaijan	Baku	Heydar Aliyev International Airport
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Banja Luka	Banja Luka International Airport
	Sarajevo	Sarajevo International Airport
Burkina Faso	Ouagadougou	Thomas Sankara International Airport Ouagadougou		align=center	^[12]
Czech Republic	Prague	Václav Havel Airport Prague
Denmark	Billund	Billund Airport
	Copenhagen	Copenhagen Airport		^[13]
Egypt	Abu Simbel	Abu Simbel Airport		^[14]
	Alexandria	Borg El Arab Airport
	Assiut	Assiut Airport
	Aswan	Aswan International Airport		^[15]
	Cairo	Cairo International Airport
	El Dabaa	El Alamein International Airport		^[16]
	Giza	Sphinx International Airport		^[17]
	Hurghada	Hurghada International Airport
	Luxor	Luxor International Airport		^[18]
	Marsa Alam	Marsa Alam International Airport
	Marsa Matruh	Marsa Matruh International Airport
	Sharm El Sheikh	Sharm El Sheikh International Airport
	Sohag	Sohag International Airport
France	Lyon	Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport		^[19]
	Marseille	Marseille Provence Airport
	Nantes	Nantes Atlantique Airport
	Paris	Charles de Gaulle Airport
Georgia	Tbilisi	Tbilisi International Airport
Germany	Berlin	Berlin Brandenburg Airport		^[20] ^[21]
	Bremen	Bremen Airport
	Cologne/Bonn	Cologne Bonn Airport
	Düsseldorf	Düsseldorf Airport		^[22]
	Frankfurt	Frankfurt Airport
	Hamburg	Hamburg Airport
	Hannover	Hannover Airport
	Leipzig/Halle	Leipzig/Halle Airport
	Munich	Munich Airport
	Münster/Osnabrück	Münster Osnabrück Airport		^[23]
	Nuremberg	Nuremberg Airport
	Stuttgart	Stuttgart Airport
Hungary	Budapest	Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport		^[24]
Italy	Bari	Bari Karol Wojtyła Airport		^[25]
	Bergamo	Orio al Serio International Airport		^[26]
	Bologna	Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport
	Catania	Catania–Fontanarossa Airport		^[27]
	Milan	Milan Malpensa Airport
	Naples	Naples International Airport
	Rome	Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport
	Venice	Venice Marco Polo Airport		^[28]
Jordan	Amman	Queen Alia International Airport
	Aqaba	King Hussein International Airport		^[29]
Kazakhstan	Almaty	Almaty International Airport		^[30]
	Aqtobe	Aliya Moldagulova International Airport		^[31]
	Astana	Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport
Kuwait	Kuwait City	Kuwait International Airport
Lebanon	Beirut	Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport
Morocco	Tangier	Tangier Ibn Battouta Airport		align=center	^[32]
North Macedonia	Skopje	Skopje International Airport
Poland	Katowice	Katowice Airport
	Warsaw	Warsaw Chopin Airport
Portugal	Lisbon	Lisbon Airport
Qatar	Doha	Hamad International Airport
Russia	Kazan	Ğabdulla Tuqay Kazan International Airport		^[33]
	Moscow	Sheremetyevo International Airport
	Saint Petersburg	Pulkovo Airport
	Ufa	Mustai Karim Ufa International Airport
	Yekaterinburg	Koltsovo Airport
Saudi Arabia	Abha	Abha International Airport		^[34]
	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		^[35]
Senegal	Dakar	Blaise Diagne International Airport		align=center
Serbia	Belgrade	Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport
Slovakia	Bratislava	Bratislava Airport		^[36]
Spain	Bilbao	Bilbao Airport
	Málaga	Málaga Airport
	Valencia	Valencia Airport
Switzerland France Germany	Basel Mulhouse Freiburg
Turkey	Istanbul	Istanbul Airport		^[37]
United Arab Emirates	Dubai	Al Maktoum International Airport		^[38]
Uzbekistan	Tashkent	Tashkent International Airport		^[39]

Codeshare agreements

Air Cairo has a codeshare agreement with the following airline:

• Egyptair^[40]

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.^[21]

Fleet

, the Air Cairo fleet consists of the following aircraft:^[41]

Air Cairo fleet

Aircraft	In service	Orders	Passengers	Notes
Airbus A320-200	11	-	174
Airbus A320neo	14^[42]	-	186
ATR 72-600	6^[43]	-	70
Embraer 190	3^[44]	-	110
Total	34	-

Notes and References

1. Web site: Airlines based in Egypt: Air Cairo. airlineupdate. 12 June 2016.
2. Web site: Air Cairo . 2 May 2010 . www.aircairo.com . Air Cairo.
3. News: Directory: World Airlines . . 53–54 . 2007-03-27.
4. Web site: Er Kairo otkazao sve letove iz BG . Air Cairo canceled all flights from BG . b92.net . sr-Latn-RS.
5. http://www.airliners.de/zwei-aegypten-carrier-deutschland/47965 airliners.de - "Two Egypt carriers banned from landing in Germany"
6. Web site: 11 December 2018 . TUI Group, Thomas Cook drop use of FlyEgypt, Air Cairo . 2024-02-19 . ch-aviation.
7. Web site: Ägypten: Auch Air Cairo darf wieder ab Deutschland fliegen . Egypt: Air Cairo is also allowed to fly from Germany again . 2024-02-19 . airliners.de . de.
8. Web site: Egypt's Air Cairo to add wet-leased Embraer capacity in 2Q19. 18 March 2019. ch-aviation.com.
9. Web site: Egypt's Air Cairo, SunExpress ink cooperation agreement. 8 March 2021. ch-aviation.com.
10. Web site: Air Cairo.
11. News: Air Cairo Adds Yerevan Service From June 2024 . 27 March 2024 . AeroRoutes . 27 March 2024 . en-CA.
12. Web site: Air Cairo moves West Africa debut to late-Dec 2023 . AeroRoutes . 23 November 2023 . 18 January 2024.
13. Web site: Air Cairo to resume three services from Sharm el-Sheikh to Italy from December 2020. aaco.org. 20 January 2021.
14. Web site: Air Cairo files Abu Simbel – Aswan schedule from Oct 2019. routesonline.com. 26 July 2019.
15. Web site: Air Cairo July - October 2022 ATR72 Operations. aeroroutes.com. 21 July 2022.
16. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/240726-smjul24dbbala
17. Web site: Be the first to travel from Sphinx International Airport with Air Cairo special prices. aircairo.com. 28 October 2022.
18. Web site: Air Cairo NS22 International Network Additions. aeroroutes.com. 7 April 2022. 12 July 2022. 7 April 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220407080351/https://aeroroutes.com/eng/220407smns22. dead.
19. Web site: Air Cairo 4Q22 France / Italy Network Additions. aeroroutes.com. 12 July 2022.
20. Web site: Flight plan. sunexpress.com.
21. Web site: Egypt's Air Cairo, SunExpress ink cooperation agreement. ch-aviation.com. 8 March 2021.
22. Web site: Air Cairo flies from Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Zurich to Hurghada. aerotelegraph.com. 16 December 2020.
23. Web site: Air Cairo NS23 Network Additions – 13Oct22. aeroroutes.com. 14 October 2022.
24. Web site: Liu. Jim. Air Cairo resumes Hurghada – Budapest service from Nov 2020. routesonline.com. 5 October 2020.
25. Web site: Air Cairo returns to flights from Italy to the Red Sea from 23 July. askanews.it. 28 May 2021.
26. Web site: Air Cairo schedules new Italian routes in S19. 2018. routesonline.com.
27. Web site: AIR CAIRO OUTLINES EMBRAER E190 OPERATIONS IN NS23. aeroroutes.com. 29 November 2022.
28. Web site: Air Cairo W18 network additions. routesonline.com.
29. Web site: Liu. Jim. Air Cairo adds Aqaba service from Oct 2019. routesonline.com. 30 September 2019.
30. News: Liu . Jim . Air Cairo Begins El Dabaa – Almaty Service From late-July 2024 . 26 July 2024 . AeroRoutes . 26 July 2024 . en-CA.
31. News: Liu . Jim . Air Cairo Adds Sharm el Sheikh – Aqtobe Service From July 2024 . 10 July 2024 . AeroRoutes . 10 July 2024 . en-CA.
32. Web site: Air Cairo moves Tangier launch to January 2024 . AeroRoutes . 1 November 2023 . 18 January 2024.
33. News: Air Cairo Adds Southwind 550-seater Boeing 777 Service in NW23 . 1 November 2023 . AeroRoutes . 1 November 2023 . en-CA.
34. Web site: AIR CAIRO ADDS ABHA SERVICE FROM DEC 2022. aeroroutes.com. 14 November 2022.
35. Web site: Air Cairo plans Yanbu April 2017 launch. routesonline.com.
36. Web site: Air Cairo S17 Europe service additions. routesonline.com.
37. Web site: AIR CAIRO ADDS CAIRO – ISTANBUL SABIHA GOKCEN SERVICE FROM JUNE 2024. Aeroroutes. 5 June 2024.
38. Web site: AIR CAIRO SCHEDULES NEW SHARM EL SHEIKH ROUTES IN NS23. aeroroutes.com. 26 January 2023.
39. Web site: Air Cairo is operating a new route between Sharm El Sheikh and Tashkent in Uzbekistan. aaco.org. 18 November 2020.
40. Web site: Egyptair and Air Cairo sign codeshare agreement. arabianaerospace.aero. 1 September 2020.
41. Web site: Air Cairo fleet. flightradar24.com.
42. Web site: Air Cairo receives its first Airbus A320neo | Airbus.
43. Web site: Egypt's Air Cairo inducts first turboprop, an ATR72-600. Ch-Aviation. 18 July 2022.
44. Web site: Air Cairo's New Embraer 190s. airspace-africa.com. 3 January 2023.