Egypt Air

EgyptAir is the national Airline of the Arab Republic of Egypt, which is based at the Cairo International Airport. It is the second largest airline in Africa, offering air travel throughout Egypt as well in other countries of the world. EgyptAir is presently under the control of a state-owned company, which operates independent of the state interference, by the virtue of a special legislation. The company is self-financed and not economically backed by the Egyptian government. Horus, the sky deity in Egyptian mythology, is the logo of Egypt Air.

In 2006, EgyptAir was rated as a "3 Star Quality Certified Airline" by Skytrax, the UK-based airline consultancy service. In 2004, it became the first airline in Africa to be certified by the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA). The airline became the 21st member of the global Star Alliance of Airlines in 2008. EgyptAir also holds the honor of being one of the founding members of Arabesk Airline Alliance and the Arab Air Carriers Organization. It also owns EgyptAir express, a regional airline based in Cairo, and Air Sinai, another Cairo based airline.

History
EgyptAir was founded in May 1932, becoming the seventh carrier to be established in the world. The airline started its commercial operations on July 1933, with Spartan cruiser, from Cairo to Alexandria. During the Second World War, Egyptian Government took over the airline and changed its name to MisrAirlines. In 1946, its name was again changed to MisrAir. In January 1961, the airline joined with Syrian Airways, to form United Arab Airlines. 1969, Misr Air became the first Airline in the Middle East to fly Boeing 707s.

In 1971, the name of the airline was changed to EgyptAir. In 2002, EgyptAir became a holding company, having seven subsidiary companies. The subsidiaries are: EgyptAir Maintenance & Engineering Company, EgyptAir Ground Services Company, EgyptAir Cargo Company, EgyptAir Inflight Services Company, EgyptAir Tourism & Duty Free Shops Company, and EgyptAir Medical Services Company. Two more subsidiary companies were added at a later date - EgyptAir Supplementary Industries Company (launched in 2006) and EgyptAir Express (launched in June 2007)

In 2007, EgyptAir entered into a partnership with the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation and Egyptian Holding Company for Airports & Air Navigation, to launch a corporate airline 'Smart Aviation Company', with its base at Cairo Airport. It has also established commercial links and agreements with other members of the Star Alliance, like Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Thai Airways International, Swiss International Airlines, South African Airways, and Turkish Airlines. The airline has also announced plans of opening up a new venture named 'Civil Aviation Finance and Operating Leases', to create a leasing venture focused on the Middle East and Northern African region.

Destinations Covered
EgyptAir serves over 70 destinations across the world. It covers Canada, U.S, in North America and France, Germany, Greece, Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Netherlands, Malta, Russia, and Cyprus in Europe. Among the Asian destinations, the airline flies to India, China, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia Yemen, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. In Africa, it covers Libya Morocco, Sudan, Algeria, Tunisia, South Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The domestic destinations catered by the airline include Cairo, Luxor, Alexandria, Abu Simbel, Sharm-el-sheikh, Marsa Alam, Aswan and Assuit. A non-stop service from Cairo to Beijing became operational in 2009.

Fleet
EgyptAir has a fleet of 59 aircrafts, consisting of Airbus A320-200, Airbus A321-200, Airbus A330-200, Airbus A330-300, Airbus A340-200, Boeing 737-500, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 777-200ER and Embraer E-170. The EgyptAir fleet operating for cargo services comprises of two Airbus A300B4-203F and two Airbus A300-600RF. It has also placed orders for 21 aircrafts. The fleet of this airline has an average age of 5.6 years.