CAIRO: Egypt's aviation minister vowed on Monday that his country won't allow Saudi budget flights to land at Cairo's airport without a bilateral aviation agreement, voiding the open sky policy currently in place. Ahmed Shafik told the parliament that that the measure was to protect the state owned airline, EgyptAir. He described the open sky policy as "a big cheat," saying the unregulated flights of budget Saudi airlines SAMA and NAS was taking business away from the Egyptian carrier. Egypt does not have budget airlines of its own. The aviation flap comes during a period chilling ties between the countries. In March Egypt banned the Kingdom's two budget airlines, SAMA and NAS, from landing in Cairo arguing that their cheap prices negatively affect Egyptian airlines. After the March order banning the Saudi flights, the kingdom responded by barring EgyptAir from flying to the holy city of Medina where tens of thousands of Egyptian pilgrims flock every year.
