EgyptAir passenger numbers have fallen by 40 percent since the Sept. 11 airborne attacks in the United States, forcing the national carrier to cut some scheduled flights, the airline's chairman said on Sunday.
Mohammed Fahim Rayan told The Associated Press that EgyptAir has suspended its twice-weekly Los Angeles flights and scaled down its weekly runs 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.
The reduction was announced following a meeting of the board of directors chaired by Rayyan.
He did not say whether the 15 percent cutback represented the cancellation of flights to Pakistan and Yemen, previously announced because of security concerns, or whether other reductions had been made.
Insurance companies have asked EgyptAir to pay ten times more for premiums.
EgyptAir was trying to obtain an exemption in exchange for a guarantee from the Egyptian government to the insurance firms, officials have said.
Following the September 11 attacks, EgyptAir announced it would not go ahead with the purchase of two Boeing 777s, which were to have been delivered this month.
The company had taken out a loan of 160 million dollars to buy the two aircraft, added AFP.
Tensions are high in the Middle East ahead of possible U.S. retaliation for the terror attacks on New York and Washington, which have also rocked the airline industry, causing massive economic losses and thousands of job losses worldwide
However, the tourism sector in the Arab country has had some good news.
A group of French chairmen of travel agencies underlined that recent events in the US had no effect on French tourists inflow into Egypt, reported Egypt Online on September 21.
At a meeting held between Egyptian Tourism Minister Mamdouh El Beltagi and a group working in the field of diving tourism referred to a few cancellations that were likely due to personal reasons, but not to the recent attacks on the US, said the online new service.
Beltagi was quoted as assuring that the ministry is working hard to increase numbers of French tourists visiting Egypt – Albawaba.com
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