Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak chaired last week’s cabinet meeting on civil aviation and future plans for Cairo International Airport. It was decided that the airport will be expanded with the addition of a new international runway, MENA reported on Sunday October 14.
President Mubarak was briefed about the recent expansion of other Egyptian airports including the development of the runways in Luxor and Sharm Al Sheikh. The Sinai airport will also begin running under the BOT system.
In a less positive development within the domestic aviation sector national airliner, EgyptAir reported that passenger traffic has plunged by 40 percent since the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. In addition, Mohammed Fahim Rayan told The Associated Press that EgyptAir has temporarily suspended its two weekly flights to Los Angeles and scaled down its weekly trips to the Japanese city of Osaka from two to one.
AFP reported on September 24 that the national carrier had cut operations by 15 percent following the airborne suicide attacks. Insurance companies have asked EgyptAir to pay ten times more for premiums. (Mena Report)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
