Could the air transport business help strengthen ties between Egypt and Nile Basin countries, asks Amirah Ibrahim The national carrier EgyptAir has launched a new service to south Sudan as part of expansion plans in Africa. On 6 August one of its Boeing737s operated the first flight to Juba, the southern capital, via Khartoum. The new service is operating two flights weekly on Mondays and Fridays, in addition to the airline's existing 26 flights a week to Khartoum. "Expanding in Africa is in line with a strategy to offer more services and investments on this continent, one of the fastest growing markets in the world," said Hussein Massoud, chairman and CEO of Egyptair Holding Company. Egyptair, a member of the Star Alliance network, has also recently started flights to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Abuja in Nigeria. "We are heading to implement a comprehensive expansion of our network in Africa as planned, encouraged by a positive growth of the fleet which is due to reach 74 planes by the end of this year,' added Massoud. He indicated that the carrier was scheduled to receive a new A320 late next week. The arrival of EgyptAir on the Juba aviation scene has been broadly welcomed, as after Ethiopian and Kenya Airways, this is the third major African airline now adding Juba to their Africa network. "We have ambitious expansion plans and we will continue to seek new destinations in Africa and increase the frequency of flights," said Captain Alaa Ashour, EgyptAir chairman. The launch of the service comes as Egypt seeks improved ties ahead of a planned 2011 referendum in south Sudan on secession. It may also be seen as part of efforts by Egypt to shore up its presence in the Nile river basin, of which Sudan is a part. The Egyptian government has offered the southern government in Juba an aid package worth $300 million for infrastructure projects. EgyptAir announced early this year plans to launch other new routes, including Copenhagen in October and Toronto in December. According to Ashour, Juba was a more delicate decision which was done without the usual fanfare. "Some of our plans have to be made away from the media and competitors," replied Ashour. "We have been eyeing Juba as it has high potential and demand. Juba is one of two or perhaps three more services we have plans to launch in Africa during the coming winter schedule. This trend suits our aim to head towards Africa and help Cairo International Airport to convert into a hub." He added that the new Juba service is subject to revision, with the possibility of increasing the service up to four flights weekly within a few months. Ashour indicated that both Egyptair and Sudan Airways have closed ranks in both Egyptian and Sudanese markets. "We are negotiating a code share agreement to enable both carriers to serve Sudanese passengers in a better way and help them transfer to Europe and overseas." Last week, Ashour signed a lease contract for two B737-500 aircraft to Sudan Airways which at present is conducting a plan to expand its fleet which consists of five aircraft. Sudan Airways general manager, Al-Ebeid Fadl Al-Mawla, signed for the Sudanese airline. The two aircraft will be operated by an EgyptAir crew for the three-month contract duration. "We highly appreciate the special relationship with our Sudanese brothers and we are willing to expand cooperation in other fields including joint training, technical support and exchanging labour in the form of on-job-training so as to provide Sudan Airways staff with more experiencs," commented Ashour. On the other hand, EgyptAir hired two aircraft to transfer Egyptian pilgrims during this year's hot season of Omra. Ashour explained: "The two leased planes to Sudan Airways are B737-500 aircraft which carry 103 passengers. These are relatively small aircraft which we do not usually operate for Omra and Hajj operations. On the other hand they are suitable in conjunction with the route to Juba."
