Luxor's new airport should boost the world-renowned capital of antiquities' ability to host more tourists. Amirah Ibrahim reports On Sunday, President Hosni Mubarak inaugurated Luxor International Airport, a long-awaited project meant to expand the antiquities-rich city's ability to host more tourists. Plans to expand the airport in Luxor have been in the works for years; they have also often been delayed for financial reasons. "In 2002, we were able to seriously embark on a project to develop the airport," said Ibrahim Mannaa', who heads the Civil Aviation Ministry-affiliated Airports Holding Company. "This upgrade will enable the airport to work efficiently for the next 20 years." Funding for the LE450 million project was provided by both the ministry and a LE50 million Egyptian-Saudi Bank loan. The project included the construction of a new terminal, expansion of the tarmac, and an upgrade of the navigation runway. The new, 55,000 square metre, three-level terminal includes departure and arrival halls, with 48 counters allocated for customs and visa procedures, as well as a commercial mall, four cafeterias, two duty-free shops and an entertainment area. "The new terminal has expanded the airport's capacity from 800 to 4000 passengers per hour, raising it to an annual total of 7.5 million," said Mohamed Zamzam, who heads the Egyptian Airport Company, which supervises all of Egypt's airports apart from Cairo International. "The old concrete tarmac, which accommodated 10 aircraft of different classes, has been upgraded to accommodate 33," he said. According to the International Civil Aviation Organisation and the International Air Transport Association, tourism movement to the Middle East is expected to rise by five to six per cent in the year 2006. "This means we have a good chance of attracting more passengers to Luxor," Zamzam said, "particularly now that we are being managed by a new French administration that is quite aware of the European market, which represent the majority of our customers." Early this year, Aéroports de Paris (ADP) won a contract to operate five airports, including Luxor's. ADP's principal task is to turn Luxor airport into a profit-making enterprise capable of competing locally and internationally. "This began by giving the airport a new positive image," said ADP Egypt's Executive Manager Patrice Bastid. "Our plan is based on attracting more airlines to Luxor, and focussing on the air transport movement coming to the Red Sea. Figures show that 10 million tourists visit Egypt's Red Sea cities like Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada, Marsa Alam, Dahab and others. Six hundred tourists take daily bus trips from the Red Sea to Luxor and Aswan, which is a terrible trip for them. If they have a more comfortable means of transportation, that number will double. This will add at least 300,000 passengers a year to Luxor airport's total." By launching a promotional campaign in Europe to market Luxor airport amongst Europe's tour operators who handle Red Sea trips, ADP expects immediate results on that front. While inaugurating the airport on Sunday, President Mubarak also headed the first session of the Higher Council For Tourism, which includes the ministers of tourism, aviation, environment and housing. Topping the agenda were two main demands: removing the additional fees imposed on arriving and departing passengers either by air or land; and liberating air transport policies by adopting principles of free and open skies. Aviation Minister Ahmed Shafiq expressed his opposition to this latter demand, and seemingly succeeded in persuading Mubarak as well. The president later called for a gradual shift in Egypt's aviation policies. According to Shafiq, Egypt is not ready to open all its airports to all airlines at present. At Cairo airport, for instance, a complete open skies policy could not be fully implemented before 2007, when the new terminal is completed. Shafiq said an open skies policy should be approached within a comprehensive plan involving all the government's ministries, not just one or two. " If [the tourism sector] believes open skies would be of tremendous benefit to its activities, then we should work together to guarantee that it would not work against other sectors, or cause them serious damage. Allowing foreign airlines to fly domestic routes can only take place if this adds more passengers to the existing volume. Unfortunately, [right now] they would only seize the current passengers who fly Egyptian airlines, and this would not be good for Egypt's aviation business [as a whole]."
