Egyptair! MS! MSR!

EgyptAir expects profitable year, hopes to leverage Cairo hub
Friday October 16, 2009


EgyptAir Holding Co. Chairman and CEO Hussein Massoud told ATWOnline in Cairo that the airline has not been affected by the industry downturn as deeply as others and that it expects another profit in fiscal 2009-10.

MS's net earnings in the fiscal year ended June 30 were down 8% from the prior year, but Massoud said the carrier "expects more improvement" during the first half of 2010. It expects to carry around 8 million passengers in 2009-10, up some 14%. The biggest threat is expected to come from LCCs, which he said "are targeting our 80 million people in Egypt more and more, especially in Cairo."

EgyptAir does not plan to launch its own LCC. Instead, it is sticking to its long-term strategy and even has asked aircraft manufacturers to deliver ordered aircraft earlier. It is scheduled to take delivery of its 12th 737-800 today and has arranged to take the first of its eight A330-300s in August 2010 instead of August 2011, the CEO said.

The carrier expects to add 4-5 new African destinations each year as it looks to leverage its new membership in Star Alliance. The long-haul connections offered by the group and EgyptAir's potential to be Star's preferred African carrier led it to convert two 777-300ER orders into eight 737-800s (ATWOnline, Aug. 7). It still has six -300ERs on order. Its first -300ER should arrive in March, and the aircraft eventually will replace five 777-200s.

Massoud said three new West African destinations are expected to come online in 2010. Cairo International's Terminal 3 is the planet's only dedicated Star terminal, and he said MS needs to do more to get the word out. "It is working as a hub for Africa, the Middle East and Europe very well. But we have to do more advertising for Cairo as a hub," he said.

The current fleet plan is scheduled to be complete in 2014. "In 2003 we had 32 aircraft. Today we have 62 and by 2014 we will have 72, including replacing older aircraft," he said. MS also plans to lease an additional A300-600F and phase out two A300B4 freighters in the near future. By 2019, Massoud hopes to be flying the A380. "The day we feel we can operate the A380, we will start," he said.


by Kurt Hofmann

EgyptAir Group is considering acquiring either Embraer E-190 or Bombardier CSeries aircraft for EgyptAir Express (MSE) as the subsidiary prepares to take over some African routes currently operated by parent EgyptAir (MS) using Boeing 737-500s. MSE operates 12 smaller E-170LRs.

MSE GM-planning Ehab Ghazy told the Airline Business Seminar (ABS) in Istanbul that the EgyptAir Group was studying both aircraft.

MS operates four 737-500s in a 104-seat, two-class configuration, mainly working African routes to destinations such as Khartoum, Asmara and Juba. However, Ghazy said the carrier is looking to move these routes to MSE after deciding the minimum size of aircraft in the mainline fleet should be around 140 seats.

In recent years, the group has turned to Embraer jets for both domestic services and on thin, short-range international routes such as Cairo-Budapest. It has also used Embraer aircraft to increase frequencies. Following the sharp drop in passenger numbers after the Egyptian revolution in early 2011, it moved some strategic short-haul routes to the E-170LR fleet to maintain frequencies and transferred non-strategic short-haul routes to the Brazilian aircraft to preserve market presence.

MSE expects Egyptian domestic air travel to expand substantially in the next few years. Despite a population of 80 million, there were only some 3 million domestic air passengers last year, largely due to the presence of an extensive rail network and Egyptians’ fondness for cars, said Ghazy.

Take a look at who's rolled out from our Mirabel paint shop: the first #A220 proudly sporting @egyptair's livery. Our teams are now busy preparing this beauty for her first flight. Stay tuned! pic.twitter.com/btvyhBOav4

— Airbus (@Airbus) 9 juillet 2019

eolien a écrit:Paul, il s'agit d'Ethiopian ... 

Voilà qui clôt la triste histoire des deux accidents du MAX et des commentaires des "spécialistes" de fortune : moteurs trop lourds, mal placés, avion mal conçu, aberration technologique, avion mal né, etc 

Comme le disait Vector - à qui je souhaite une bonne santé s'il nous lit - Boeing a commis la faute majeure de reléguer au second plan les concepts de sécurité.

Les défauts ont été corrigés et le MAX n'occupe plus la UNE des médias. D'après ce que j'entends, c'est un très bon avion, très performant.

Vector a écrit:Pour en revenir au Max, je ne sais pas si les passagers vont oublier l'affaire de si tôt.