Bahrain Air to go ahead with launch of service to Egypt

Posted on 8 February 2011 in Air Transport

Bahrain's value airline - Bahrain Air - said yesterday that it is to press ahead with its proposed launch of flights to Egypt despite the turmoil currently affecting the North African country.


The airline had previously announced plans to launch a new route from Bahrain to Sharm El Sheikh, the famous Egyptian Red Sea resort. The route is not currently served by either Gulf Air or Egypt Air.

Bahrain's Gulf Daily News reported that the airline is still "waiting and watching", but quoted security, corporate affairs and government relations senior manager Abdul Aziz Yosuf Al Shaer as saying he expected the flights to go ahead as scheduled.

"We have prepared for the launch on March 3 and, as things stand now, are all set to go," he told the GDN.

The airline is planning two flights a week, one on Monday and another on Thursday, to and from the resort.

Bahrain Air already has an active route to Alexandria. "There is a tremendous potential and huge opportunity for growth," Al Shaer said. "We are sure the situation will become normal very soon and tourists will start flocking to Cairo and other parts of Egypt as usual."

Gulf Air said yestyerday that all of its flights between Bahrain and Egypt were operating normally - apart from some arrival and departure time changes to comply with the curfews in effect in the country.

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Egypt Air Inflight Services signs a whale of a deal

The in-flight services division of Egypt Air Holdings has signed a catering contract with Moby Dick Solutions.
Speaking at AVEX - the Egyptian Air Show - this morning, chairman of the subsidiary Mostafa El Gammal said the contract was worth US$5 million annually.
Moby Dick is the largest of the private airline contractors operating in Egypt and under the new agreement will now supply catering services to Egypt Air In Flight Services customers at Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh airports. The contract covers services to charter airlines as well as VIP aircraft using these key Egyptian tourist hot spots.

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A380 Pyramid selling to woo Egyptians

The Airbus A380 flight test aircraft flew over the Pyramids for the first time ever today


This special flight concluded the first A380 visit to Egypt during which the A380 attended the AVEX International Airshow at Sharm El Sheikh International Airport this week.
Following airport compatibility tests carried out at Cairo International Airport  the flight demonstrated that the Egyptian capital airport is capable of handling A380 operations.

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Kuwait Airways adds Sohag service and replace Luxor

Kuwait Airways has launched new service to Sohag in Egypt. This replaces service to Luxor, which is located South east of Sohag.
It is operating 1 weekly Kuwait – Sohag round trip and 2 weekly Kuwait – Sohag – Sharm el Sheikh – Kuwait.
Schedule below:

KU549 KWI0920 – 1055HMB 320 1
KU550 HMB1200 – 1535KWI 320 1
KU549 KWI0955 – 1135HMB1245 – 1340SSH1440 – 1755KWI 320 6
KU550 HMB1245 – 1340SSH1440 – 1755KWI 320 6
KU549 KWI1540 – 1720SSH1810 – 1905HMB2000 – 2330KWI 320 3
KU550 SSH1810 – 1905HMB2000 – 2330KWI 320 3

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EgyptAir Express adds more flights to Marsa Alam.

Egypt will host the IATA AGM in 2011 for the second time in the association's history. Hussein Massoud, chairman of the hosting carrier, explains how the event would benefit both tourism and air transport in Egypt

THE RED SEA resorts are to be served with more services starting this summer. EgyptAir Express the regional and domestic carrier has signed a new contract to expand operation to Marsa Alam airport. The new agreement stipulates operating domestic and regional flights based on sharing the costs between both airline and airport. The carrier is operating services to Marsa Alam, a BOT airport operated by Kuwaiti Al-Khurafi group, under an agreement reached in 2007 to operate the service on the same base. Vice President, Ibrahim Saleh signed for Al-Khurafi Group.

According to Express Chairman Helmi Rizq, the new agreement allows the carrier to expand current operations between Cairo and Marsa Alam from five flights to seven weekly starting from the first of July. "A weekly flight from Upper Egypt's Luxor city will be launched on Mondays. We will add a weekly flight on Fridays from Abu Simbel starting from next October," explained Rizq.

Marsa Alam will be connected to Alexandria with two flights weekly via Sharm El-Sheikh. "This means adding more flights to Sharm El-Sheikh service," he added. Express, under the agreement, is scheduled to operate three new services from Marsa Alam airport to Jeddah, Kuwait and Amman, each with two flights weekly.

Late last month, Express airline launched a promotional campaign to promote its route to South Sinai's Taba resort city which is currently operating with two flights weekly. The campaign consisted of three parts; an attractive package to spend three nights at five star hotels including a flight ticket at LE 1500. The airline launched an advertisement campaign to promote the city as well as inviting 60 travel agents and tour operators to a fan trip to explore the city.

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Sharm el Sheik Terminal 3

Only two years after it opened its second terminal building, the airport authority decided to take a step forward to expand its capacity by doubling it. Last Thursday, the Holding Company for Airports and Air Navigation (HCAAN) came to sign a contract with Spanish construction designers Pointec for a third terminal at the Red Sea resort.

According to Ibrahim Manaa, chairman of the HCAAN, the new terminal takes the total capacity of the airport from 7.5 million to 15 million passengers per annum.

"The project's primary costs are estimated at $350 million," stated Manaa in a signing ceremony in Cairo attended by Spain's Ambassador to Egypt Antonio Lopez. "The design phase is due to be completed within a year. International contractors then will be invited for an open tender to construct the terminal. It is scheduled to be completely constructed by 2012," he explained.

The project includes constructing a new terminal building for passengers, a new runway, and a new tarmac for aircrafts.

In May 2007, Sharm El-Sheikh airport celebrated operating its state-of-the-art terminal with a unique design that mixes Bedouin heritage with marine life characters. The terminal took airport capacity from 3 million to 7.5 millon passengers per annum.

"By the end of 2008, figures of traffic within airport hit a record of 7 million passengers which rang a warning alarm for us that we are about to face an overcapacity problem soon. Thus we launched the second stage of the expansion project," Manaa indicated.

He added that forecasts indicated that passenger movement within Sharm El-Sheikh airports would hit 12 million passengers within the next few years.