Egypt's flagship airline, EgyptAir (EA), decided Monday to reduce ticket prices by 20 percent on international as well as internal flights. The new arrangement excludes flights heading to Jeddah and Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The offer will start from the beginning of December until December 14, and between February and 20 March next year, a statement by the airline said. “This decrease in prices will include tourist, first class and businessmen seat grades,” said EA's airlines chief, Tarek Kamel. Captain Hossam Kamal, head of EA's holding company, meanwhile said that these offers aim to encourage more travel in and out of Egypt, as well as to bolster Cairo's reputation as a destination. Kamal emphasized that the offer forms part of the company's “Egypt in our hearts” campaign, which originally launched to reduce ticket prices for internal flights. “Egypt in our hearts” was organized in cooperation with Egyptian tourism officials in attempts to encourage Egyptians to visit Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada, and will last until mid-September. Reyad Al-Tawil, joint founder of Travel Yalla – a prominent travel agency in Egypt – told Egypt Independent that they publicized EgyptAir's new campaign on the company Facebook page to alert clients. “After the announcement a large number of people called us asking about the flight prices to Hurghada, Sharm El-Seikh and Marsa Alam - places which are far away from protests and unrest.”
