Egyptiar has no ambition to become a five- star air line with exclusive first-class suites and luxury spas in its lounges, at least not for the present. Yet it is aiming to give its expansionistic Middle East and Gulf counterparts a cookie of their own dough with an increasingly effective strategy to source flow traffic over its Cairo hub supported by its membership in Star Alliance and a strong determination to gain, or regain, market share.
"We're facing intense competition from Gulf carriers and they have planned major capacity growth. Furthermore, we're disadvantaged in terms of resources but we have to deal with that," Alaa Ashour, chairman and CEO of the Cairo-based airline, states in down-to-earth fashion. However, he tells this magazine EgyptAir has some major assets to support its competitive prospects including a "long and strong history" as a flag carrier whose origins date back to 1932, low unit costs, a large home market (Egypt is the Middle East's most populous country with a population of more than 80 million), a homogeneous workforce and, last but not least, a government that applies an open skies policy only to its regional airports (see article p. 28). Foreign airline access to Cairo International remains regulated by bilaterals and it is a stronghold of the national carrier, which holds 60% of departure slots there, according to Ashour.
This month, EgyptAir Airlines will take delivery of its first new 777-300ER, which will feature its first fully lie-flat beds and be the first aircraft to enter the fleet on an operating lease (from GECAS). All other mainline aircraft are owned. Regional affiliate EgyptAir Express deploys 12 owned E-170LRs while EgyptAir Cargo flies two A300B3-200Fs and two A300-600Fs. The three carriers operate under the same AOC but are managed separately and have their own P&L accounts. In aggregate, they operate some 1,200 weekly flights to 72 destinations worldwide.
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