CAIRO - Ayman Nasr, Chairman of EgyptAir, rejected the resignations of Ashraf el-Kholi, Head of the Operations Sector and his deputy Ahmed Adel. The resignations were presented, after pilots demanded the dismissal of the presidential pilots, who had overtaken their old colleagues in terms of posts and salaries. It is said that regular pilots attacked the presidential ones during a meeting with Hussein Massoud, Chairman of EgyptAir Holding Company and Ayman Nasr, Chairman of EgyptAir, while discussing the pilots' demands. Some EgyptAir pilots used to fly the presidential aircraft, get better pay than their colleagues and occupy higher posts. Among them is Ayman Nasr, who is currently in charge of EgyptAir. Hope for brisk air traffic Mohamed el-Shashai, the Deputy Chairman of the Cairo Airport, has voiced hopes that the air traffic will back to normal through a high demand from Muslim Egyptians wishing to perform Omra (Minor Pilgrimage) in Saudi Arabia. He added that in the wake of recent turmoil, several airlines had asked for cancelling flights to and from Egypt due to a severe shortage of passengers. According to him, Terminal 4 at Cairo Airport, handling private jets, has seen a sharp drop in the number of aircraft using the terminal. On Mourad's reinstatement It is time to implement the final ruling issued by the Council of State, a court ruling on governmental lawsuits concerning the return of EgyptAir pilot Ali Mourad, who was sacked in 2002. The true story and the reason behind dismissing Mourad are well known. After landing a plane at Gaza Airport in occupied Palestine, he refused Israeli soldiers to check and examine the aircraft. This was described in the Council of State ruling: "Mourad attempted to keep the dignity of his nation and considered the aircraft as part of his country, at a time when officials in Cairo abandoned their responsibilities." Will the Civil Aviation Authorities renew Mourad's piloting licence? We hope so, and that he will be able to return to his former post.
Palestinians holding entry visas Egyptian Authorities at Cairo international Airport have lifted restrictions imposed on Palestinians over the past few weeks. Security sources at the airport stated they had received instructions to allow Palestinians holding a valid visa to enter the country, be it for educational or business purposes. The sources added that other airlines would also be informed. Over the past 15 days, Palestinians were prevented from entering Egypt and had to leave on the same planes they had arrived on. Fly to the West Coast in Lufthansa style The West Coast of America just got closer: from May 10, 2011 Lufthansa will be the first airline to operate a daily A380 service to San Francisco. On your flight to this Californian city, you can enjoy the exceptional comfort of our new flagship – in First Class, for example, which sets new standards with its eight, generously sized seats or in the welcoming environment of Business Class. Economy Class, too, offers greater comfort than ever before, with individual in-seat screens and an impressive amount of space.With the introduction of our daily service to San Francisco, Lufthansa's seventh A380 enters into operation. The world's largest and most modern passenger airliner will depart from Frankfurt at 9.45 am on Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays, arriving at San Francisco International Airport at 12.05 pm. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, the flight, operating under flight number LH 454, is scheduled to take-off and arrive 10 minutes earlier. The return flight leaves San Francisco at 2.20 pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays (flight number LH 455), arriving in Frankfurt at 10.05 am. On Fridays and Saturdays it is scheduled to depart and arrive five minutes earlier. Besides San Francisco, the fifth Lufthansa A380 destination, you can also fly on our flagship daily to Tokyo; on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays to Beijing and from 16 February, 2011 daily to Johannesburg too. The service to New York – which has been operating on Mondays and Fridays since 28 January this year – will increase to four flights a week from 27 March 2011 and to daily from 10 April 2011.
