Egypt Air has announced that it will add more than 60 aircraft to its existing fleet by 2022 in an effort to revamp its operations and enhance tourist inflows
According to Bloomberg, Egyptian civil aviation minister Abdel Aziz Fadel said the national carrier plans to add 17 aircrafts to replace models more than 15 years old and 44 more to meet its growth requirements. Egypt Air currently has 81 planes in its fleet and plans to operate 125 carriers by 2022.
“Egypt Air will most likely lease planes, which could include current or re-engined variants of the Airbus A320 or Boeing 737-800 for short-haul routes, with the Embraer SA E-195 and Bombardier C-series models also in contention,” added Fadel.
The Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry has announced that Egypt Air’s holding company may also merge businesses like maintenance, cargo arms and the airline and that the state would provide an equity injection in the near-term.
Since January 2011, Egypt Air is reported to have lost US$1.02bn, but now plans to add long-haul routes and destinations like Hong Kong, Jakarta and Sao Paulo to its portfolio by 2014, Bloomberg said.
The ministry is currently overseeing construction of the Cairo, Alexandria and Hurghada airports, which together have been estimated to cost about US$870mn. The aim is to boost total annual capacity to 45mn passengers in 2030 from 30mn passengers and to 55mn passengers by 2050, according to ministry sources.
Funding for the projects has reportedly been provided through loans from the World Bank and Arab Development Bank.
