Egypt Air’s subsidiary Air Cairo will introduce new scheduled flights to Belgrade, Sarajevo, Skopje and Banja Luka this summer season. The airline has loaded the new routes into the system and is expected to commence ticket sales shortly. Air Cairo will begin operations from Cairo and Sharm El Sheikh to Belgrade, as well as from Hurghada to Sarajevo, Skopje and Banja Luka. It currently serves Belgrade from Hurghada on a year-round basis. “People from Africa will now have the chance to travel to the Balkans and Europe. We will work on developing tourism ties and enabling easier access for businessmen and investors”, Air Cairo’s CEO, Hussein Sherif, said.
Commenting on its new operations, Mr Sherif said the airline plans to cater for holidaymakers as well as connecting traffic from Africa. “Increasing the number of flights and expanding our destination network will result in better connectivity between Serbia and Egypt, which is a positive step in bilateral relations. Serbian citizens who live and work in Africa will be able to fly directly via Cairo to Belgrade, rather than Istanbul or another European city, as has been the case up until now. Many people from Serbia live in South Africa and will soon have the opportunity to travel back to their homeland via Cairo in cooperation with Egypt Air”, Mr Sherif noted.
Air Cairo has held talks with Air Serbia over potential cooperation. The Serbian national airline maintains charter flights to both Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh but suspended services to Cairo at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. On the other hand, the new flights to Sarajevo, Banja Luka and Skopje will also mark the only scheduled service from the three cities to North Africa. Air Cairo boasts a fleet of ten aircraft, including six Airbus A320s and four A320neo jets. It operates scheduled flights to Europe and the Middle East, expanding significantly into Germany in 2021, while its focus this year will turn both to the former Yugoslavia and Benelux region with the aim of boosting Egypt’s tourism to pre-Covid levels.
Very good news, Belgrade seems to be on fire as far as 2022 is concerned. I wonder how many flights they will have from CAI. I guess 2 weekly at first though I think more can operate with MS' global network out of CAI.
ReplyDelete2 weekly I think. Hope it works.
DeleteSo I'm guessing that's why JU is not coming back to CAI, maybe they have a codeshare.
ReplyDeleteAt least this way we will be certain the route will last while Air Serbia often starts something, then cancels it or turns it seasonal.
DeleteProblem with Cairo is that it was too long and it couldn't fit into the night bank
DeleteNot bad about the potential codeshare with Air Serbia. Air Cairo flies some domestic routes from CAI like Aswan, Luxor, Sharm, Hurghada. Could be really beneficial for JU.
DeleteIs Cairo so much further than Tel Aviv or Beirut which were able to be placed in the night bank?
DeleteI always thought that with more generous luggage allowance on low belly cargo routes, Air Serbia can achieve competitive advantage. All other competitors have to be strict due to alliances and whatnot. Perhaps, being an outsider is the advantage.
Block time to Beirut was 02.40 while Cairo is 03.00
DeleteNice! I remember an article from last year mentioning all these routes except Skopje, so that's a nice surprise :)
ReplyDeleteSkopje has Hurghada charters for years
DeleteYes but this is scheduled flight. You will be able to buy individual tickets.
DeleteIt would it be good if they connect Cairo and Skopje at least once weekly to check if there will be enough demand. Also eventually they will need to connect the two Macedonian cities, Alexandria and Skopje as well :).
ReplyDeleteLOL!
DeleteHahaha you made my day anon 09:06 - Alexandria LOL!!!
DeleteLittle fun on Friday never killed somebody :)
Deletewow bravo Belgrade!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting will be this summer for BEG!
Belgrade will have spiffing coverage of eastern Mediterranean this summer. We will have:
ReplyDelete1. Athens - Aegean, Air Serbia
2. Heraklion - Aegean, Wizz Air
3. Rhodes - Aegean
4. Larnaca - Air Serbia, Wizz Air
5. Ankara - Anadoloujet
6. Cairo - Air Cairo
7. Amman - Air Serbia
8. Tel Aviv* - Israir
*I suppose Arkia won't be coming back now that they are being taken over by EL AL.
You forgot Santorini (Wizz Air) :)
DeleteTrue, my bad.
Delete+ Thessaloniki
DeleteThere are flights to Valetta, Malta (Wizz Air), and maybe even Tunisia in summer (Monastir or Tunis)
DeleteIf we are adding Malta then we can add Bari as well. :D
DeleteI just saw he typed eastern Mediterranean haha, my bad!
DeleteHehe it's ok :D
DeleteGreat news
ReplyDeleteWell that was unexpected.
ReplyDeleteNot really ex-Yu wrote about it last year :D
Deleteanyone know how much flight we can expect weekly?
ReplyDeleteFrom yesterday's article about Sarajevo Airport:
Delete"while Air Cairo will commence flights between Hurghada and Sarajevo, also twice per week."
So I assume all will 2x weekly.
oh ok thanks
DeleteAny new connection is good
ReplyDeleteI always found it interesting how Air Cairo flies to BEG year round on what is a summer holiday route.
ReplyDeleteA lot of people during winter months is seeking to go somewhere where climate is nicer and Northern Africa have perfect climate and also is close and cheap.
DeleteThat is the reason why Egypt have year round flights to Belgrade.
Plus don't forget that many who go in summer to MNE can't go in winter since weather is bad and sea is freezing.
DeleteThat is why destinations such as Dubai, Zanzibar and Hurgada are becoming increasingly popular out of Belgrade. As the standard of living improves so will demand for air travel.
I know a person who goes to Hurghada 3 times per year. She says it's cheaper for her to spend 2 weeks in Hurghada than spend for food and utilities at home. Of course everyone knows her at the places and hotel she goes there so she gets some discount too. She has been doing this for 4 years already.
DeleteIt is value for money.
DeleteActually winter is the better time for visiting Egypt .
DeleteSummers in Egypt are too warm .
Yes !Beg have flights to Cairo!
ReplyDeleteAnd LJU misses out again, like always..
ReplyDeleteZAG is also overlooked by Air Cairo. Similar to Pegasus which is flying almost everywhere in ex-YU besides Croatia and Slovenia.
DeleteBoth depend on outbound tourists. I don't think many people in Croatia have the need to holiday in Hurghada or Antalya.
DeleteOnly chance we will see these routes if RYR starts them :D
DeleteJudging by what we saw recently, seems like people in Croatia don'thave the need to visit western Germany and several other places to which FR cut flights.
Delete^
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2022/01/ryanair-to-reinstate-entire-zagreb.html
This is not about the need. Noone has a NEED to go to the sea, warm places, to travel, gets to know new cultures etc. This has to do with habits and demand. Croats don't want to travel to any other see but theirs, and they travel abroad less for tourist reasons, which is also fine.
DeleteShould be noted that Ljubljana does have charters to Hurghada and Sharm during the summer.
DeleteYeah. Fly Egypt (twice weekly Hurghada and once Sharm) + Trade Air + Air Cairo?
DeleteNo way.
Dissapointed about INI... :(
ReplyDeleteFew months ago Egyptian ambassador to Serbia has visited Niš, hinted high probability of Niš-Hurgada air-link...
Air Serbia will be operating charters from Nis to Hurghada this summer.
DeleteWould be great!
DeleteAny source?
You can already buy package with Barcino tour operator with Air Serbia being the operating carrier. They also have ads across Nis. There will be charters to Antalya too.
DeleteTo me it seems Air Cairo substituted Nis with Skopje.
Delete@ Anon 09:45
DeleteYou are bloody right:)
Just checked. Besides charter INI-Antlya, there is also INI-Hurgada.
So after Jan 22 figures published, with reinstated PSO schedule and summer charters, we can expect INI would go over 200k pax in 2022, if no new corona damages...
They wanted to introduce Sharm-Belgrade flights in 2019 too but were blocked by the directorate. Hope the same does not happen this time around.
ReplyDeleteThey won't. These routes were being pushed by both the Serbian and Egyptian governments.
DeleteGreat news. Good to see more and more flights to the region
ReplyDeleteFrom Africa no less :)
DeleteDo Egyptians need visa to enter Serbia, Bosnia and Macedonia?
ReplyDeleteYes, and viceversa. But it's mostly a formality.
Deleteformality for us but not for them
DeleteAwesome news!
ReplyDeleteIs Sharm going to be year round like Hurgada (I mena fom Beg)?
ReplyDeleteI doubt it. It's not as popular as Hurghada. Charters to Sharm el Sheikh resumed just 2-3 years ago.
DeleteI really like their livery :)
ReplyDeleteMuch better than what they used to have
DeleteIs Air Cairo an LCC?
ReplyDeleteNope, they serve a full hot meal and luggage is included.
DeleteThey are low fare but not low cost.
DeleteJudging by the photo they also have wifi on their planes!
Delete^ yes on the neos
DeleteNice!
DeleteHopefully Egypt Air also puts its codes on Air Cairo flights.
ReplyDeleteJU should sign a codeshare with Air Cairo on domestic routes. They they could get transfers via Cairo to resort towns.
DeleteInterestingly Egypt Air codeshares on Aegean's flights from Athens to Belgrade.
DeleteComing up next Kraljevo Morava - Sharm el Sheik :D
ReplyDeleteNot until they extend the runway :)
DeleteExtension is not only the problem, but it also needs to be strengthened to handle the weight of heavier aircraft, same as the taxiways.
DeleteI think the length is fine, it's primarily what JATBEGMEL mentioned.
DeleteHopefully they fly at more convenient times than their current Hurghada-Belgrade route.
ReplyDeleteAs a tourist these are the best times you can have because when flying to there you arrive in the morning so have the entire day in Hurghada and on the way back you depart late at night, meaning again you have the entire day in Hurghada.
DeleteIt's impressive how much demand there is between Egypt and Serbia.
ReplyDeleteCheap destination but different compared to Greece and even Turkey. Not surprised.
DeletePlus Egyptians are way more friendly and welcoming than Greeks and Turks.
DeleteI would not agree.
DeleteI had always better service in Turkey than in Egypt.
It is really subjective and depends in what place you go to in the country.
DeleteInteresting that they sent Air Cairo to Belgrade. They obviously expect larger volume. Would have been cool to get MS with the A220.
ReplyDeleteMaybe if the route performs well we will see Egypt Air instead next year.
DeleteConsidering Air Serbia has been dragging its feet in restoring Cairo I'm quite glad Air Cairo will step in.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteLooking forwards to seeing more of them in the region.
ReplyDeleteWhy no Egypt Air though :(
ReplyDeleteLong overdue.
ReplyDeleteI guess JU isn't coming back.
wondering what is happening now with Fly Egypt charters from SKP?
ReplyDeleteWhy is that strange in the past there where many charters to Hurghada and other places in Egypt
DeleteThey will probably continue as usual.
DeleteBNX first Intercontinental flight. Congratulations
ReplyDeleteGreat achievement for such a small city.
DeleteThis is a great development for Banja Luka. It would also be nice if we see Turkish or Pegasus launch flights from Istanbul.
DeleteReally great!
DeleteWondering if these will be seasonal or year round
ReplyDeleteGreat news.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that JU doesn't fly to Cairo will hopefully prevent the government from sabotaging that route too much.
Nice and different.
ReplyDeleteNice news for Sarajevo!
ReplyDeleteRealy good connection between BiH and Egipat.
ReplyDeleteOff-topic fact:
ReplyDeleteEight out of eleven last main daily ex-yu topics ended between 102-105 comments.