EgyptAir in crisis as tourists stay away after uprising

Egypt's national carrier Egypt Air is considering a number of drastic actions to stem losses following the uprising that led to the exit of President Mubarak from office and the introduction of the interim military government

Hundreds of thousands of tourists have stayed away from the country and the national airline which holds exclusive transiting rights through Cairo had to cancel hundreds of flights from it major hubs to the Red Sea resorts and tourism destinations that are the mainstay of the through traffic.

Curfews and flight restrictions also dampened down business traffic.

Now the airline is offering to lease - either wet or dry - as many as 25 of its newest aircraft to other carriers, in a bid to offset staggering losses linked to the unrest
The company said in a statement yesterday that it was also offering to provide crew to staff the planes, which it was making available to fellow members of the Star Alliance network of international carriers.

Since the political uprisingbegan on January 25th, the airline canceled about 75 percent of its flights and has seen little incoming traffic as the tousits continue to stay away.

The chairman of EgyptAir Holding Company -  the parent company for the airline - said 40 percent of the carrier's fleet has been grounded. Hussein Massoud also said the company is losing about 80 percent of its projected revenue.





According to financial broadcaster Bloomberg, tourism accounts for about 5 percent of Egypt's gross domestic product. Figures released by the government's statistics bureau showed that 210,000 tourists fled the country in the last week of January and that cancellations for February were depriving Egypt of about $825 million in revenue.

To further reduce costs, Massoud said the carrier was looking at cutting working hours, no longer offering board members stipends to attend the meetings and "opening the door for employees to take leaves of absence without pay." He said the scheme will also allow employees to work half-time.

The airline is also reviewing its route network and Massoud said EgyptAir will be canceling some flights that had seen little passenger traffic even before the unrest.

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