EgyptAir

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EgyptAir
IATA
MS
ICAO
MSR
Callsign
EGYPTAIR
Founded 1932 (as Misr Airwork)
Hubs Cairo International Airport
Focus cities El Nouzha Airport
Hurghada International Airport
Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport
Luxor International Airport
Frequent flyer program EgyptAir Plus
Alliance Star Alliance (Joining 2008)
Fleet size 42 (+22 orders, 5 options)
Destinations 73
Parent company EgyptAir Holding Company
Company slogan Enjoy the Sky
Headquarters Cairo, Egypt
Key people Capt. Tawfik Assy (Chairman of EgyptAir Holding Company)
Capt. Sherif Saad Eldin Galal (Chairman of EgyptAir Airlines)
Mr. Mohamed Hassan (Chairman of EgyptAir Express)
Website: http://www.egyptair.com

EgyptAir Airlines Company (IATA Code: MS[1]), operating as EgyptAir (Arabic: مصر للطيران, Misr Lel-Tayaran) is the Cairo-based national airline of Egypt. Wholly owned by the Egyptian government, it operates scheduled services to more than 70 destinations in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Far East, the USA, and Canada, as well as running a domestic operation. Its main base is Cairo International Airport.

EgyptAir is a member of the Arab Air Carriers Organization and is Africa's second-largest airline. The airline is a future member of the Star Alliance.

The airline's logo is of Horus, the sky deity in ancient Egyptian mythology, who was usually depicted as a falcon or a man with the head of a falcon. The airline has taken Horus as its logo because of it ancient symbolism as a winged god of the sky.

The airline celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2007.

Contents

[edit] History

EgyptAir was established on 7 June 1932 and started operations in July 1933 using a Spartan Cruiser on the Cairo-Alexandria route. The plane could only seat 4 (including a pilot and co-pilot). It was founded in association with the Airwork Company under the name of Misr Airwork.

In 1935 12 De Havilland aircraft were added to the fleet. During the Second World War the Egyptian government took charge of the airline and its name was changed to Misr Air in 1949. In January 1961 Misr Air joined Syrian Airways to form United Arab Airlines (UAA) as a result of new political links between Egypt and Syria, but this accord was shortlived, lasting only 10 years. It retained the name for a time until it changed to EgyptAir in October 1971[2]. EgyptAir was the first airline in the Middle East to operate jetliners[3]. In 2002, EgyptAir became a holding company with nine subsidiaries.

Egyptair Airbus A330-200 taking off. The main and nose undercarriage doors are closing.
Egyptair Airbus A330-200 taking off. The main and nose undercarriage doors are closing.

[edit] Operations

EgyptAir is a state owned company with special legislation permitting the management to operate as if the company were privately owned without any interference from the government. The company is self-financing without any financial backing by the Egyptian government. The airline reported a profit of 1,143 billion dollars in 2007. The airline has fixed assets of 3.8 billion dollars. The airline's financial year is from July to June. [4]

EgyptAir wholly owns EgyptAir Express and Air Sinai. The airline also has stakes in Air Cairo (40%) and Smart Aviation Company (20%). It has 20,734 employees (at March 2007)[2].

In 2006/2007, EgyptAir's passenger traffic increased by 12% to 6.5 million passengers. [1]

In 2006 Skytrax rated EgyptAir a 3 Star Quality Certified Airline.

In June 2007 the airline launched a regional subsidiary called EgyptAir Express with a fleet of new Embraer E-170s. The subsidiary connects Cairo to the domestic airports of Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada, Luxor, Aswan, Marsa Alam, Abu Simbel and Alexandria in addition to regional international services to complement the parent company's operations. In February 2008 during the Singapore Airshow, the airline converted 6 options for the Embraer E-170 to firm orders for 2009 delivery.

On the 16th of October 2007 the Chief Executive Board of Star Alliance voted to accept EgyptAir as a future member. The airline has forged commercial and cooperative agreements with several members of Star Alliance including Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Thai Airways International, Swiss International Airlines, South African Airways, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines and bmi. Assimilation into the alliance is expected in 2008.

The carrier is also a founding member of Arabesk Airline Alliance.

In 2008 the airline's operations at its hub airport, Cairo International, will be overhauled as the new Terminal 3 is inaugurated. The airline will transfer all its operations (international and domestic) to the terminal which will more than double the airport's capacity. To implement the Star Alliance “Move under one Roof” concept at Cairo Airport, all Star Alliance member carriers flying to Cairo will move to the new Terminal 3.

In May 2008 the airline revealed a new brand and livery reflecting the 'Spirit of Egypt' and the carrier's effort to make Cairo the principal gateway to Africa and points in the Middle East.

[edit] New Corporate Identity

In May 2008 EgyptAir unveiled their new look on the image of a Boeing 777-300ER rendered by an artist at Boeing.

  • image removed due to copyright issues.


[edit] EgyptAir Holding Company

Egypt Air Airbus A300-600R
Egypt Air Airbus A300-600R

The EgyptAir Holding Company was created in 2002 with 7 companies (2 were added at later dates):

  • EgyptAir Airlines
  • EgyptAir Maintenance & Engineering (EASA Part 145 Certified)
  • EgyptAir Ground Services
  • EgyptAir Cargo
  • EgyptAir Inflight Services
  • EgyptAir Tourism & Duty Free Shops
  • EgyptAir Medical Services
  • EgyptAir Supplementary Industries Company (formed in 2006)
  • EgyptAir Express (launched in June 2007)

[edit] Subsidiaries

Airbus A330-200 landing.
Airbus A330-200 landing.

The airline also has stakes in:

[edit] Destinations

See full article: EgyptAir destinations (last update: May 2008)

[edit] Fleet

EgyptAir operates one of the industry's youngest airplane fleets, [5] with an average age of 7.6 years. The EgyptAir fleet consists of the following aircraft as of May 2008 [6]

EgyptAir Fleet
Aircraft Total Passengers Notes
Airbus A320-200 12 139 (16/123)
145 (10/135)
Airbus A321-200 4 185 (10/175)
Airbus A330-200 7
(8 orders)
(3 options)
268 (24/244) 3 lease orders
Entry into service: 2010-2011
Airbus A340-200 3 260 (12/24/224)
Boeing 737-500 4 104 (8/96) Also operating Air Sinai flights
Boeing 737-800 4
(8 orders)
154 (16/138) Business Class seats equipped with AVOD
Boeing 777-200ER 5 319 (12/21/286)
Boeing 777-300ER (6 orders)
(2 options)
Entry into service: February 2010
Leasing from GECAS

In addition, Egyptair Cargo operates 4 A300-B4/600 aircraft & EgyptAir Express operates 6 Embraer E-170 aircraft with another 6 on order. This will bring Egyptair's total to 49 + 28 orders + 5 options.

[edit] Codeshare agreements

EgyptAir has codeshare agreements with the following airlines[7]:

[edit] Incidents and accidents

Fatal events include:

  • On 25 December 1976, EgyptAir Flight 864 crashed into an industrial complex in Bangkok, Thailand. Twenty of the 52 on board were killed, and 72 on the ground were killed.[8][9]
  • On 17 October 1982, EgyptAir Flight 771, a Boeing 707 aircraft crashed in Geneva Cointrin Airport in Switzerland after the pilot forced a landing in an unclean configuration with massive overspeed and an unacceptable rate of descent. Most passengers survived the incident.

The report cites the stubbornness of the pilot, his lack of Crew Management Traning and his missing english knowledge as the cause of the disaster.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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