EGYPTAIR

'EgyptAir Airlines Company', 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 70 destinations in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Far East, the USA, and Canada, as well as runnung a domestic operation. Its main base is Cairo International Airport.
EgyptAir is a member of the Arab Air Carriers Organization. EgyptAir is Africa's second biggest airline (after South African Airways).
The airline celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2007.

Contents

History

Operations

EgyptAir Holding Company

Subsidaries

Destinations

News

Codeshare agreements

Fleet

Incidents and accidents

External links

References

History

Egyptair was established on 7 June 1932 and started operations in July 1933. It was founded in association with the Airwork Company under the name of Misr Airwork. 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. It retained the name for a time until it changed to EgyptAir in October 1971^[1]. EgyptAir was the first airline in the Middle East to operate jet liners.

Timeline:

★ 1932 - EgyptAir was established in May.

★ 1933 - EgyptAir started commercial operation in August with Spartan cruiser from Cairo to Alexandria.

★ 1935 -12 De Havilland aircraft were added to the fleet. During the Second World War, the Egyptian Government took over the airline and changed its name to Misr Airlines.

★ 1946 - The name was changed again to MisrAir and 10 Beachcraft aircraft were purchased.

★ 1949 - MisrAir bought 10 Vickers Vikings and the following year put into service a French Aircraft, the Languedoc.

★ 1956 - MisrAir merged with Syrian Airlines, forming a new airline United Arab Airlines-UAA.

★ 1960 - UAA bought Comet 4-C jets becoming the first carrier in the Middle East to use Comets.

★ 1968 - UAA introduced the Boeing 707-320c to cope with the growing international traffic and to operate longer routes.

★ 1969 - EgyptAir became the first airline in the Middle East to fly Boeing 707s.


★ 1971 - MisrAir and Syrian Airlines split, resulting in a new airline EgyptAir.


★ 2002 - EgyptAir became a Holding Company with seven subsidiaries.

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 £EGP303 million in 2003/2004, £EGP443 million in 2004/2005 and £EGP485million in 2005/2006. The airline's financial year is from July to June. ^[2]
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).
In 2006, Egyptair's passenger traffic increased by 12% to 5.8 million passengers.
In 2007 Skytrax rated EgyptAir a 3 Star Quality Certified Airline.
In March 2007 the carrier signed an agreement with Goldman Sachs for consultation on an IPO for 20% of the holding company. Proceeds from the IPO are expected to raise a total of US$900 million, which will be used to purchase 12 new aircraft, increasing EgyptAir's fleet to 62 jets.
EgyptAir launched its regional jet division in June 2007. The new subsidiary called EgyptAir Express will operate Embraer E-170s. The new subsidiary will connect Cairo to the domestic airports of Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada, Luxor, Aswan and Alexandria but will operate selected international services in the latter half of 2007 to complement the parent company's operations. A further six Embraers are also held on option and are expected to be converted to firm orders in October 2007 (either Embraer E-190 or Embraer E-195).
According to the homepage of the Arab Air Carriers Organization AACO, Egyptair is in talks with Lufthansa to promote their application as a potential member in Star Alliance.^[3]
The airline has also forged commercial and cooperative agreements with other members of Star Alliance included Singapore Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Thai Airways International, Swiss International Airlines, South African Airways, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines and most recently (July 2007) signed an agreement with bmi. Assimilation into the alliance is expected in 2008/2009.
The carrier is also a founding member of Arabesk.

EgyptAir Holding Company

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 Airlines (launched in June 2007)

Subsidaries

The airline also has stakes in:

★ Air Cairo (40%)

★ Smart Aviation Company (20%)

★ Air Sinai (100%)

Destinations

''See full article:'' EgyptAir destinations (last update: August 2007)

News

★ (28/08/2007) EgyptAir places an order for more A330-200 aircraft. The order consists of 5 firm orders plus 3 options . The first two aircraft are to be delivered in 2011 and the other three in 2012.

★ (14/06/2007) EgyptAir and Lufthansa announced they will enter a code-sharing agreement from October 2007. Lufthansa Chief Wolfgang Mayrhuber said in a statement, 'Egypt Air is an ideal partner for us because with this cooperation we can position ourselves long term in one of the most dynamically growing markets in North Africa.'. This move was expected as Lufthansa is sponsoring EgyptAir to enter Star Alliance. The routes that will initially be covered by this agreement are:

★
★ Cairo - Frankfurt (operated by EgyptAir and Lufthansa) -Total: 3 daily flights-

★
★ Cairo - Munich (operated by EgyptAir) -Total: 1 daily flight-

★
★ Alexandria/Borg El Arab Airport - Frankfurt (operated by Lufthansa) -Total: 3 weekly flights. [1]

Airbus A330-200 landing.

Codeshare agreements

EgyptAir has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

★ Aerosvit Airlines (places MS code on VV's KBP-CAI flights)

★ Austrian Airlines (MS and OS codeshare on one another's CAI-VIE flights)

★ Gulf Air (MS and GF codeshare on one another's CAI-BAH flights)

★ Korean Air (places MS code on KE's ICN-CAI flights)

★ Olympic Airlines (places MS code on OA's ATH-ALY flights)

★ Royal Air Maroc (MS and AT codeshare on one another's CAI-CMN flights)

★ Saudi Arabian Airlines (MS and SV codeshare on one another's CAI-MED and CAI-DMM flights)

★ Singapore Airlines (places MS code on SQ's SIN-CAI flights)

★ South African Airways (SA places its code on EgyptAir's CAI-JNB flights)

★ Swiss International Airlines (places MS code on LX's ZRH-CAI flights)

★ TAP Portugal (TP places its code on EgyptAir's CAI-LIS flights)

★ Thai Airways International (TG places its code on EgyptAir's CAI-BKK flights)

★ Tunis Air (MS and TU codeshare on one another's CAI-TUN flights)

★ Turkish Airlines (MS and TK codeshare on one another's CAI-IST flights)

★ Yemenia (IY places its code on EgyptAir's CAI-SAH flights)
Future/Pending codeshare agreements:

★ Lufthansa (MS and LH will codeshare on one another's CAI-FRA, CAI-MUC and HBE-FRA flights from October 2007)

★ bmi (MS and BD will codeshare on one another's CAI-LHR flights from 28 October 2007. BD launches its new daily Cairo flight on that day)

Fleet

EgyptAir engine

The EgyptAir fleet consists of the following aircraft as of September 2007:

'EgyptAir Fleet'

Aircraft	Total	Passengers	Notes
Boeing B777-200ER	5	319 (12F/21C/286Y)
Airbus A340-200	3	260 (12F/24C/224Y)
Airbus A330-200	7 (5 orders)	268 (24C/244Y)	5 firm orders for delivery in 2011/2012.A further 3 aircraft are on option
Airbus A321-200	4	185 (10C/175Y)
Airbus A320-200	12	139 (16C/123Y) 145 (10C/135Y)	7 aircraft in 145 seat configuration5 aircraft in 139 seat configuration
Boeing B737-500	4	104 (8C/96Y)	Including 1 operating 'Air Sinai' flights
Boeing B737-800	3 (9 orders)	154 (16C/138Y)	All business class seats equipped with AVOD
Embraer ERJ-170	5 (1 order)	76 (76Y)	Operating for EgyptAir Express(+ options for 6 more Embraer Jet)
Airbus A300-600RF	2	N/A	Operating for Egyptair Cargo
Airbus A300B4-203F	2	N/A	Operating for Egyptair Cargo
Total Number of Aircrafts	'47' '(+15 orders') '(+9 options)'		Updated: September 2007

EgyptAir operates one of the industry's youngest airplane fleets, ^[4] with an average age of 7.6 years.

Incidents and accidents

Fatal events include:

★ On 19 March 1972, EgyptAir Flight 763 crashed in Vietnam killing all 30 passengers on board.

★ On 25 December 1979, Egyptair Flight 864 crashed into an industrial complex in Bangkok, Thailand, after the crew failed to correct the descent rate. Twenty of the 52 on board were killed, and 72 on the ground were killed.

★ On 23 November 1985, Egyptair Flight 648, a Boeing 737 aircraft was hijacked to Luqa, Malta by three men from Abu Nidal group. Omar Rezaq was among them. After several hours of negotiations, Egyptian troops stormed the aircraft and battled with the hijackers, who threw several hand grenades and shot five Israeli and American passengers in the head. The aircraft was severely damaged by the explosions and fire. Two of the six crew members and 58 of the 91 passengers were killed.

★ On 31 October 1999, EgyptAir Flight 990, a Boeing 767 flying between John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City and Cairo, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Nantucket. The pilot, Gameel Al-Batouti, was suspected by U.S. authorities of committing suicide and intentionally crashing the plane. Egyptian officials have strongly disputed that claim.

★ On 7 May 2002, EgyptAir Flight 843 crash-landed on its approach to Tunis, killing 14 of 62 occupants.

External links

★ Official site

★ Fleet Age

★ Fleet

★ EgyptAir to Integrate Boeing 737-800s into Fleet (1)

★ Egyptair's First Boeing 737-800 Delivery

★ Egyptair Expanding Services

★ Egyptair adds 12 new aircraft to its fleet

★ Egyptair Orders 8 Airbus A-330 Aircraft

References

1. Directory: World Airlines
2. NTSB ''Group Chairman's Factual Report'', January 18, 2000
3. Egypt Air aims to become a member within the next 24 months. www.aaco.org, Industry and AACO news, March 8, 2006
4. Boeing