Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Monday inspected Egypt's new Sphinx International Airport (SPX), which is set to open for service in summer 2018. In an official statement, presidency spokesman Bassam Rady said the president had inspected the finalized project, which will be able to accommodate 300 passengers per hour. Built west of Cairo off the 45th kilometre marker on the Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road in Giza governorate, and at a cost of EGP 300 million, SPX is being constructed by the Egyptian Consultancy Company and is intended to reduce pressure on Cairo International Airport, which is located in the city's eastern outskirts. According to Rady, the airport will serve the residents of Cairo's western satellite cities 6 October and Sheikh Zayed, as well as those of other nearby governorates such as Beni Suef and Fayoum. It will also serve tourists coming to visit the Great Pyramids of Giza and the soon-to-be-inaugurated Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), according to 2017 statements by Egyptian Aviation Minister Sherif Fathy. Ahead of the inspection visit, El-Sisi also examined the newly built Rod El-Farag axis, which will connect northern and eastern Cairo with western Cairo by road. The axis stretches 10.5 km from Rod El-Farag to the Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road, intersecting with the north entrance to Sheikh Zayed. El-Sisi examined phase 2 of the axis, construction of which is 85%. It will be first axis in western Cairo to connect the ring road to the regional ring road. The president praised the efforts of those executing the projects, which are being built to the latest international standards. President El-Sisi also stressed the importance of committing to the set timeframe for project completion. Egypt has been pushing forward with road and bridge network development projects as part of a national plan to improve the country's once ailing infrastructure. The government has been prioritizing transportation infrastructure investments since President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi announced the National Roads Project (NRP) in August 2014 in a plan to construct 4,400 kilometres of new roads. Around EGP 22.5 billion have been spent on roads and bridges that were completed between 2014 and 2017, according to statements by Transport Minister Hisham Arafat in January 2018.
