Directorguy From Egypt, joined Jul 2008, 1569 posts, RR: 12 Posted (4 years 1 month 3 weeks 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 4228 times:
As part of its strategic plan, Egyptair will commence scheduled flights from its Cairo hub to Lusaka, Zambia. http://www.znbc.co.zm/media/news/viewnews.cgi?category=9&id=1237799614
For one of Africa's most prestigious carriers, and one of its oldest, I'm surprised at the lack of a developed network within Africa, something Egyptair should have had since 1950s.
Along with the recent re-start of Dar es Salam, I hope to see more African cities come online so that the Pharaoh can once again rule Africa. Strategically, Cairo is an ideal Africa-Europe/North America gateway, a role that will be reinforced with MS's future role in the *A.
Back in 2007, Egyptair had announced Dakar, Dar es Salam and Lusaka in Africa (http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/850/ec3.htm) only DKR remains unfulfilled.
MSYYZ From Canada, joined Oct 2005, 846 posts, RR: 9 Reply 1, posted (4 years 1 month 3 weeks 1 day 8 hours ago) and read 4110 times:
Very good news , congrats to MS and Zambia , i wonder what type of A/C will they use !
An A330 would be too much capacity with 4 weekly flights , oroobably a B738 al
AirGabon From Switzerland, joined Dec 2003, 852 posts, RR: 3 Reply 3, posted (4 years 1 month 3 weeks 21 hours ago) and read 3902 times:
Will they re-start Abidjan soon?? Would love to see their A330 or B738 back in Ivory Coast.
They used to come here before once or two weekly with A300 via LOS or Kano...
Twolz2rn From United States of America, joined Oct 2005, 429 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (4 years 1 month 3 weeks 20 hours ago) and read 3849 times:
hmmm...the article states " the flights are designated to increase the number of Egyptian tourists to Zambia". Of the Egyptians that can afford to travel, are there really THAT many going to Zambia? How full are the MS African flights?? I'm going to NBO on MS next week and there are currently 25 seats filled in Y...i know thats not the actual number, but that seems low...
Directorguy From Egypt, joined Jul 2008, 1569 posts, RR: 12 Reply 5, posted (4 years 1 month 3 weeks 20 hours ago) and read 3822 times:
Quoting Twolz2rn (Reply 4): hmmm...the article states " the flights are designated to increase the number of Egyptian tourists to Zambia". Of the Egyptians that can afford to travel, are there really THAT many going to Zambia?
Apt observation. Moneyed Egyptians go to Dubai, London, Paris, Kuala Lumpur, possibly Casablanca, Jo'burg and Nairobi in Africa.
The statement was probably a political statement made and what that person really means is that there will be more business travel between both countries. I'm fairly certain that there are a number of Egyptian business travellers with prospects in Zambia. MS and *A will also offer beyond connections to Europe, North America and the Middle/Far Easts.
Quoting AF022 (Reply 2): CAI-LUN with a B738? That seems like a VERY long trip on a narrowbody - over 5000km.
But 5000km is well within the 737-800's range to do it. MS have 5 more 737-800s for delivery in 2009.
Quoting AirGabon (Reply 3): Will they re-start Abidjan soon?? Would love to see their A330 or B738 back in Ivory Coast.
Never say never. If they restart, it will be with a 737 or an A320 though. Only KRT and JNB get widebodies in Africa.
I believe MS flies 4x weekly on the route. I think the Algerian government added one weekly flight for them. Apparently MS is doing very well on the CAI-ALG route and they wanted more frequency and I think they still do!
They fly the 320/321 there.
Cheers,
Imad
Bledi Heya Al Djazaeer! // Next Flights: AB MIA-DUS-ORY, AF ORY-MRS-ALG
Reciprocal service (don't know the frequencies or aircraft used, sorry)
Libyan Arab Airlines serves CAI from both BEN and TIP using A320s.
Sudan Airways serves CAI from KRT
Ethiopian Airlines operates a daily ADD-KRT-CAI B737 service
Kenya Airways operates a daily NBO-KRT-CAI B737 service
Royal Air Maroc also flies to CAI from CMN
Air Algerie also operates Algiers-Cairo
Twolz2rn From United States of America, joined Oct 2005, 429 posts, RR: 0 Reply 10, posted (4 years 1 month 2 weeks 5 days 22 hours ago) and read 3166 times:
Are a lot of the sub-Saharan destinations subsidized? I understand why the North African and Sudan cities would be busy but not the others. I am am flying CAI-NBO on MS this saturday, and the plane is currently only 16% full!
Directorguy From Egypt, joined Jul 2008, 1569 posts, RR: 12 Reply 12, posted (4 years 1 month 2 weeks 5 days 13 hours ago) and read 3044 times:
Quoting Twolz2rn (Reply 10): Are a lot of the sub-Saharan destinations subsidized? I understand why the North African and Sudan cities would be busy but not the others. I am am flying CAI-NBO on MS this saturday, and the plane is currently only 16% full!
Good question. MS does not possess that large an African network but I don't think we're seeing 100% loads in most cities either. Some may exist for political reasons, in a few cases MS is one of a few descent airlines there (e.g. Asmara) and MS needs to hold onto that.
My guess is that traditionally MS would have had better loads due to the underdeveloped nature of a proper airwork system on the continent (and for a long time CAI was a well-served airport with MS possessing its own longhaul network), but with more European airlines in the market, re-investment in airlines has fuelled growth, hence MS, while traditionally having the hold over most niche markets, has taken a backseat in most.
Directorguy From Egypt, joined Jul 2008, 1569 posts, RR: 12 Reply 14, posted (4 years 1 month 2 weeks 4 days 11 hours ago) and read 2833 times:
Quoting AlexEU (Reply 13): Is Cairo Airport good for connection? I found EK (via Dubai) to be much cheaper (and possibly better) then MS for Euro-African connections.
Nice to see someone from such a rare country
Cairo Airport is geographically well connected, and much better for Euro-Africa in terms of geography than DXB.
However, MS is not daily on most of its African sectors, and timings can involve long transit times on outbound or inbound, hence EK through DXB has a shorter time.
Add that to the fact that MS's Y product is quite poor compared to EK, even on their A332s which are used on certain African sectors.
The only thing that makes MS/CAI worth it is the *A miles, or price and convenience and when T3 opens and all *A airlines move under one roof, pax will have more options open to them
Quoting AlexEU (Reply 13): Is it nonstop? It's weird that KQ flies via Khartoum.
Yes, with full traffic rights on Cairo-Khartoum and a fair share of people fly that rute. Also ET flies the same originating in ADD.
AlexEU From Serbia, joined Oct 2007, 1791 posts, RR: 2 Reply 15, posted (4 years 1 month 2 weeks 2 days 17 hours ago) and read 2693 times:
Quoting Directorguy (Reply 14): Nice to see someone from such a rare country Smile
Nah, I am not from Nauru! I hail from Serbia, but I'd love to travel to weird places such as Nauru...
Quoting Directorguy (Reply 14): Cairo Airport is geographically well connected, and much better for Euro-Africa in terms of geography than DXB.
But I am sure that most people prefer to transit in DXB, AUH or DOH since they are more reliable for long transits then CAI.
How are MS domestic flights?
Directorguy From Egypt, joined Jul 2008, 1569 posts, RR: 12 Reply 16, posted (4 years 1 month 2 weeks 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 2638 times:
Quoting AlexEU (Reply 15): Nah, I am not from Nauru! I hail from Serbia, but I'd love to travel to weird places such as Nauru...
All the same, nice to meet you.
Quoting AlexEU (Reply 15): But I am sure that most people prefer to transit in DXB, AUH or DOH since they are more reliable for long transits then CAI.
How are MS domestic flights?
Most people probably do preffer to transfer in DXB or AUH or DOH since their flights are multi-daily in many cases (eliminating long stopovers) and they have a better on-board product.
MS enjoys a monopoly on the domestic routes, very recently MS restructured their domestic network and launched Egyptair Express using Embaer 170s that would serve domestic city-pairs during nonpeak times (previously, MS found difficulty serving domestic cities profitably during desirable times, as these aircraft needed to be in Europe or Africa during midday. Egyptair traditionally used to schedule most of its domestic services in the early morning, at an inconvenience to the passenger. Express got around this, and opened up smaller city-pairs that are now served profitably.
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