AlMasria Universal Airlines

AlMasria Universal Airlines
IATA
UJ		 ICAO
LMU		 Callsign
ALMASRIA
Founded 2008
Hubs Cairo International Airport
Secondary hubs Borg El Arab Airport
Fleet size 2
Destinations 8 (scheduled)
Company slogan Enjoy easy fly.
Headquarters Cairo, Egypt
Key people Fully owned by Egyptian Citizens Ahmed Ismail as (Chairman) and Hassan Aziz, the founder as (President & CEO)
Website https://www.flyalmasria.com/
Old logo

AlMasria Universal Airlines (Arabic: المصرية العالمية للطيران‎; also known as AlMasria Airlines) is an Egyptian private airline based in Egypt.

The airline operates scheduled services from Egypt to the Middle East.

'AlMasria' is derived from the Arabic word for 'Egyptian'.

Operations

Plans for AlMasria Universal Airlines were announced in 2008 and the airline launched operations in June 2009. In an interview in April 2009 the appointed company president and CEO (and former dispatcher), Hassan Aziz, stated that the airline would launch operations in 2009 to take advantage of low prices during the global financial crisis to tap demand for air travel in the most populous Arab country.

The company offers cargo services in the bellyhold of its passenger fleet.

Maintenance is outsourced completely to EgyptAir under a total service agreement, with the airline also training AlMasria flight crew and the technical team. Ground-handling will be through EgyptAir, with passenger services undertaken by Egypt Aviation Services and catering by a new venture between EgyptAir and Lufthansa's LSG Sky Chefs.

Destinations

For Autumn 2013 the airline is operating international scheduled flights on the following routes: During summer time airline has base at Mostar International Airport.


In December 2009 the airline became the first international airline to operate flights to Saudi Arabia's Yanbu Airport. In June 2010 the airline repeated the milestone at Qassim Regional Airport. Previously both Yanbu and Qassim airports were domestic airports. Both flights originate from Cairo International Airport.

Other destinations earmarked by Aziz include Europe and Middle East with specific mention of Bahrain, Qatar and Jordan in addition to Copenhagen and Milan-Bergamo. AlMasria is also looking to lever the current bilateral talks taking place between Cairo and Baghdad.

In June 2012 the airline started to operate regular flights between Cairo and Milan-Bergamo (BGY).

Fleet

The AlMasria Universal Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of December 2013):

AlMasria Universal Airlines Fleet
Aircraft In
Service		 Orders Passengers
(Business/Economy)		 Notes
Airbus A320-200 1 1 150 (12/138)
Airbus A321 1 0 188 (12/176)
Total 2 1 Last updated: July 28 2013


The Airbus A320 aircraft anchors the airline's fleet. The first aircraft arrived in Egypt in April 2009 and second in August 2009. Both aircraft are leased from BOC Aviation.

The airline's CEO stated the plans call for a further 3 A320 will join during the first year of operation. An eventual fleet of 10 aircraft is planned by 2014. "We aim to dry-lease the first aircraft for the first three years", says Aziz. "After five years we aim to buy aircraft from Airbus by 2014. We don't want to load the balance sheet by buying $250 million in assets at the start."

The airline plans to provide a full on-board service. Cairo-originating services will feature two cabins with aircraft configured with 164 seats.

References