EgyptAir is to launch a new year-round direct Dublin-Cairo service this summer. The new route, which commences on 2nd June , operating four times per week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays and will be Ireland’s first scheduled air service to Egypt.
Egyptair will operate the route using a two class Airbus A320neo aircraft 142 aircraft with 16 business class a generous 48” seat pitch and 126 economy class seats offering 29-30” pitch and is powered by CFM Leap-1A engines. The cabin features relaxing mood lighting and personal in-flight entertainment screens and Wi-Fi connectivity and the feature of Live TV, which allows watching many news, sports and other channels.
The airline operates 8 A320neo aircraft with a further 7 on order on lease from Dublin aircraft lessor AerCap. Egyptair become the first airline based in mainland Africa to operate the aircraft type.
The Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Dublin headed by Ambassador Khaled Tharwat announced on 27th January that the embassy’s intensive efforts and numerous contacts with the relevant Irish authorities, in coordination with the Egyptian civil aviation authorities and Egypt Air; have successfully resulted in the decision to inaugurate the direct flights between Cairo and Dublin. Ireland’s Traffic Recovery Support Scheme (TRSS) was no doubt a factor to launch the new route.
In a press release dated January 2020 Managing Director of Dublin Airport Vincent Harrison stated “We are delighted to welcome EgyptAir in Ireland’s airports, which will connect Dublin Airport with an extensive route network that EgyptAir has from its primary hub airport in Cairo to other destinations in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
Thus, we will be working closely with EgyptAir to promote this new route, which will be welcomed both by businessmen, and tourists , as Cairo is the largest city in the Arab world, located on the banks of the Nile, and the famous pyramids at Giza and the Sphinx are less than few miles from city centre.”
The market for air travel between Dublin and Cairo is increasing, with an estimated 14,000 passengers travelling between the two cities prior to the Covid global pandemic in 2019. EgyptAir has an extensive route network from its Cairo Hub to onward destinations in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
EgyptAir paused the launch of the Dublin route from June 2020 initially to March 2021 which was further delayed due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the reduction in air travel across the world due to the imposition of global travel restrictions.
Image Credit: Egyptair
Irish Aviation Research Institute © 5 February 2022 All Rights Reserved
