Air Cairo plans to connect Dubai to the Red Sea coastal cities of Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh this year, as the charter operator evolves into a budget carrier to meet demand from a projected recovery of visitor numbers to Egypt. The airline, a unit of Egypt Air, is also seeking to purchase eight Airbus A320neo jets, part of its plans to grow its fleet to 20 aircraft by 2020, the company's chairman and chief executive said. "Our future plan is to serve the Middle East area. We would like to have flights from Sharm El Sheikh to Hurghada to Jeddah, Riyadh, Kuwait, and Dubai," said Yasser El Ramly in an interview with The National on the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market event in Dubai. "Maybe next winter 2015-16." Mr El Ramly said that Air Cairo would start with two flights a week from Dubai. In also plans to operate flights from Sharm El Sheikh to Copenhagen and Billund in Denmark, and Oslo this summer. This is in addition to the 30 flights per week from Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh to European cities such as Dusseldorf, Stuttgart and Hanover in Germany, Tbilisi in Georgia, Belgrade in Serbia, and Prague in the Czech Republic. Currently, Air Cairo operates seven Airbuses – four owned and three leased. It will receive its eighth A320 this year. Of the eight aircraft, two will have a two-class configuration, according to Mr El Ramly. Air Cairo is not the first low- cost airline to introduce a premium cabin, with flydubai already offering business class seats. Competition from other low-cost airlines in the region, including Air Arabia, flydubai, Flynas and Jazeera Airways, is tough, said Mr El Ramly. "We have a few budget carriers in Egypt as well. Competition is everywhere, but we have our strategy," he said. A revival in tourist numbers this year on the back of an improving security situation, with the Egyptian government predicting 3 million more visitors in 2015, will help to bring about a return of pre-revolution growth rates, according to Mr El Ramly. "Every year it is getting better. We hope this year to reach the same figures of 2010 in terms of tourism," said Mr El Ramly. Air Cairo is 60 per cent owned by Egypt Air, 20 per cent owned by National Bank of Egypt, and 20 per cent owned by Banque Misr. Source : The National
