EgyptAir signs agreement with Sabre

Poor Sabre!
The problem is the operational mentality of EgyptAir management team which cannot be modified.
The solution could be firing all current EgyptAir employees and hiring new employees.
Date: 18 December 2014 commenting on http://www.eturbonews.com/

EgyptAir to resume Zimbabwe flights

It seems that the Egyptian Ambassador in Nigeria has a humble idea about airline business.
The fifth freedom of air is about flights carrying commercial traffic (passengers and cargo) between two foreign countries. Obviously, the fifth freedom is the problem facing EgyptAir in case of carrying passengers between Tanzania and Zimbabwe. The fifth freedom of air has to be granted by the two foreign countries. In fact, bilateral air service agreements are negotiated between civil aviation authorities of the countries concerned. So, the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority has to negotiate the fifth freedom of air with both Tanzania and Zimbabwe for EgyptAir flights to utilize carrying passengers between those two specific countries.
It is very strange that EgyptAir did not prepare itself for that situation. Was EgyptAir trying to operate illegally between Tanzania and Zimbabwe? Anyway, the solution of the fifth air freedom cannot be finalized in Zimbabwe only. However, Zimbabwe might be able to incentivize EgyptAir to stay through some mechanism other than the fifth freedom of air.
Date: 01 November 2014 commenting on http://www.newzimbabwe.com/

Wrongful deportation: Egypt Air admits error, to compensate Nigerian passenger

It seems that after having been summoned by the Nigerian Foreign Ministry, Mr. Ashraf Salama the Egyptian Ambassador to Nigeria successfully managed to vent the steam which he had previously received from Mrs. Viola Onwuliri, the Nigerian Minster of Foreign Affairs. He informed the officials of Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation in Cairo about the extreme seriousness of the issue of mistreating the Nigerian teenager when he was traveling on board of EgyptAir.
Well done Mrs. Viola Onwuliri!
Date: 25 September 2014 commenting on http://nigeriatell.com/news/

EgyptAir, foundation to treat children with cancer

It is good to know about the involvement of EgyptAir in humanitarian activities. However, it is equally important for EgyptAir, obviously for commercial reasons, to care about its paying customers. At least, they are paying to get a reasonable amount of the airline's attention. Otherwise, they might decide to give their business to EgyptAir’s competing airlines. That hypothetical situation would definitely affect EgyptAir’s capability in providing humanitarian activities.
Date: 12 December 2013 commenting on http://www.thisdaylive.com/

EgyptAir re-launches in Zimbabwe

It seems that the Egyptian Ambassador to Zimbabwe needs to learn more about the geography of Africa, or about the basics of airline industry, or about both.
What did he mean exactly when he said that the air link would provide a direct link with east Africa?
Did he mean Cairo (Egypt) or Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania)?
Cairo is not in east Africa for sure. So, we can safely conclude that Dar Es Salaam is the destination located in east Africa.
It is true that EgyptAir flights stop in Dar Es Salaam before reaching Harare. However, EgyptAir did not say that it has traffic rights between Harare and Dar Es Salaam. That simply means that EgyptAir can not carry passengers between those two cities. Obviously, the re-launch of EgyptAir flights does not provide any link between Harare and east Africa.
Of course, we can run the same logical steps if he thought that Cairo is in east Africa.
Date: 14 June 2013 commenting on http://www.herald.co.zw/

EasyJet's Egypt deal remains up in the air

The deal is up in the air and it will be so for almost forever unless the mentality of the current bureaucrats controlling Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority will be exposed to a thorough brainwash.

Egypt is fully supporting its spoiled child EgyptAir and it will not allow any foreign or even Egyptian carrier to compete with it. Egypt does not have any foreseeable intention to change its protectionist policy despite the current flaccid status of EgyptAir.
Date: 25 May 2013 commenting on http://www.aljazeera.com/

Zambian President Banda foreign trips justified

Are we supposed to believe that EgyptAir would operate 4 flights a week between Cairo and Lusaka for the sake of President Banda and his visits?
The reality is that EgyptAir will operate those flights because of some commercial benefits. It is true that Zambia will benefit from the EgyptAir’s network but EgyptAir’s benefits outweigh Zambia’s.

Date: 27 December 2010 commenting on http://www.ukzambians.co.uk/

EgyptAir to Copenhagen

The anticipated Egypt Air’s flights will make the carrier the only Full Service Carrier (FSC) operating between the African continent and Scandinavia
Considering the fact that Egypt Air canceled its flights to Copenhagen in 2004 due to poor operating results, and the fact that Egypt Air will be the only legacy carrier linking Copenhagen and Cairo nonstop, are we in a position to assume that Egypt Air is quite sure about the potential viability behind the comeback?

Date: 01 June 2010 commenting on http://newsodrome.com/

Egypt Air Airbus A340-200 SU-GBO landing at KIX (Osaka)

Smooth landing! However, pilots are supposed to land that way. Otherwise, we will be talking about an air hostess landing the aircraft instead of the captain in case of emergency landing.
What is more remarkable is catching that particular landing on tape. Good job!

Date: 04 April 2010 commenting on http://www.youtube.com/

EgyptAir terminates all flights to Japan

This is an example of the mediocre management of both EgyptAir and Egyptian Civil Aviation.
What is the reason for EgyptAir to wait for the situation to be deteriorated to the level of incurring massive economic losses?
What kind of support expected to be offered by either Japanese or Egyptian government? Well, Japan Airlines terminated its flights to Egypt long time ago because of no or limited commercial viability. Will it make any sense for the Japanese government to subsidize EgyptAir flights while it did not support the flights of Japan Airlines in the past? More importantly, it seems that EgyptAir management is not aware of the ongoing free market economy.

It is equally funny for the Egyptian Minister of Civil Aviation to admit that the loss of 6 billion Egyptian pounds only warrants for flight reduction. Why is he ignoring the idea of restructuring EgyptAir?
Considering the current economic situation of Egypt, the government will not be able to support the lousy non-economic operation of EgyptAir for a long time as it has some other aspects with higher priority.

Date: 29 March 2013 commenting on http://www.japantimes.co.jp/ 
Date: 30 March 2013 commenting on  http://www.japantoday.com/

Five airlines apply to fly into Zimbabwe

Currently, there are limited economic ties between Egypt and Zimbabwe to justify operating air service between Cairo and Harare.
I understand that EgyptAir’s interest to fly to Zimbabwe is to carry passengers neither originating nor destined to Egypt. EgyptAir plans to utilize its route network, mainly European, to feed its Zimbabwe flights through its hub at Cairo Airport. The problem is the mediocre service level available for transit passengers in Cairo. Unfortunately, both EgyptAir staff and Cairo Airport personnel have no idea about the notion of customer service.
Here is a link to a similar situation for the passengers of EgyptAir’s Juba flights upon transiting Cairo Airport.

Date: 26 February 2013 commenting on http://allafrica.com/

EgyptAir to let hostesses wear Islamic headscarves

It seems that the superficial religious trend in Egypt achieved a victory. What was the point for EgyptAir stewardesses to request to be allowed to wear headscarves?
Are they trying to prove that they are complying with the Islamic beliefs? Yes as an answer simply means that they are wrong. Will they wear makeup? Definitely, yes. Wearing makeup is a harsh contradiction with the hijab.
The airline cabin crew is not a career for everyone, especially those with such Islamist mindset. Stay at home or find another job if you are really serious about Islamic teachings.
The reality of the situation is that female cabin crew of EgyptAir is just making a show. The true reason behind their headscarf is the laziness in taking care of the coarse non-fair hair. So, they are covering it instead.
From the commercial point of view, that step does not reflect positively on EgyptAir which is widely known for its mediocre in-flight service.
The policy of EgyptAir toward its stewardess is obviously a step on the opposite direction of Singapore Airlines which unified the perfume worn by air stewardesses as a part of the brand integrity.

Date: 12 November 2012 commenting on http://www.firstpost.com/

Air Nigeria takes delivery of A330-200 aircraft

Generally speaking, making its non-fully utilized fleet available for lease is an advantage for EgyptAir. That advantage will be maximized in case of wet lease as the airline would be able to utilize its surplus of crewmembers as well.

For Air Nigeria, the case is not necessarily the same. It is true that the airline would satisfy its short-term operational needs. However, leasing specifically from EgyptAir is a separate issue and has two strong points of concern. They are language and quality of service.

Unfortunately, EgyptAir cabin crewmembers speak the Egyptian dialect of Arabic language plus limited, if any, English language. That issue would have its negative impact on the communication quality between the cabin crew and the passengers of Air Nigeria and consequently the service quality. Putting the language aside, did Air Nigeria carefully check the level of customer-centricity of EgyptAir cabin crew before signing the ACMI lease?

To be on the safe side, Air Nigeria is advised to use its own crewmembers side by side with EgyptAir crewmembers for the sake of improving issues of both language and quality. Alternatively, damp lease, rather than wet lease, would resolve the previously-mentioned issues.

Date: 17 May 2012 commenting on http://leadership.ng/nga/

EgyptAir owes Petroleum Ministry LE1 billion, says minister

Is Mr. Massoud confused between his old position in EgyptAir and his new one in the Ministry of Civil Aviation? Why is he talking on behalf of the new EgyptAir chief?
If the dues have been paid regularly since July, what would be the reason behind accumulating one billion pounds?
Having an initiative of applying some austerity measures is definitely a good idea. However, the transparency about the initiative and the ministry’s current losses is more important than the initiative itself.
Unfortunately, the minister incorrectly linked the capability of eliminating the deficit with the level of security and stability. Is he trying to tell us indirectly that the ministry’s share form the Egyptian budget has been decreased? If that would be the case, does he really plan for an austerity program or is he just trying to cope with budget cut?

Date: 15 December 2011 commenting on http://www.almasryalyoum.com/

EgyptAir battles to recapture market after revolution

What could be the meaning of “special offers and other juicy packages”?
When it comes to pricing, EgyptAir does not pay attention to various market forces. Understandably, EgyptAir has almost a monopoly in the Nigerian market as there are no other direct air operators between Egypt and Nigeria. However, its practice in other markets (like Russian Federation) proves my viewpoint.
Anyway, let us see the interaction of Mr. Mohamed Metwally’s statement and about 1,500 seats available on board of Egypt Air flights from Nigeria to Egypt.

Date: 30 May 2011 commenting on http://allafrica.com/

Icelandic ash cloud will not affect EgyptAir flights to Europe

How premature for the CEO of EgyptAir to be so sure about the possible effect of the volcanic eruption on EgyptAir’s flights to Europe. Did he forget the mammoth effect which resulted from the volcanic eruption of April 2010?

Date: 26 May 2011 commenting on http://english.ahram.org.eg/

Egypt Air Juba flight under fire

We can safely conclude that politics should be an integral component in route planning. Considering the flammable stance between northern Khartoum and southern Juba, Juba flights with en route stop in Khartoum represent an extremely sensitive issue. Can we imagine EgyptAir operating flight to Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) with en route stop in Tel Aviv? It is entirely understood that Cairo-Tel Aviv-Jeddah example is unlikely to happen but Cairo-Khartoum-Juba version is a reality for almost 6 months. While there was no direct confrontational hostility between Saudi Arabia and Israel, there was a bloody military confrontation between Khartoum government and the southern part of Sudan.

Flights to/ and from airports which have operational restrictions, like Juba Airport, should be positioned and timed to avoid any possible service disruptions. With not-so-good on-time performance of EgyptAir, it is not a good idea to operate one-stop flights to Juba. By doing so, EgyptAir is simply increasing the contributing factors of service disruption.

The attitude of EgyptAir airport employees is not new for EgyptAir. After all, they are working in EgyptAir because of their connections, rather than their qualifications. I commented on the mediocre level of EgyptAir’s customer service last July. Ironically, the comments were about Juba flight.

Date: 11 January 2011 commenting on http://www.eturbonews.com/

Egyptair, SAS code-share; a new link between Africa and Europe

Unfortunately, the multi-destination booking feature in EgyptAir website does not work properly. Moreover, EgyptAir ticketing agents have no interest in selling any destination beyond those served by their company. So, how could EgyptAir customers benefit from the newly signed code-share agreement?

Date: 16 December 2010 commenting on  http://logisticsweek.com/

No SAA investment in central African airline

How smart for the South African Airways (SAA) to only support the newly conceived airline venture in central Africa without providing airplanes or investing in the anticipated airline company.

Obviously, the operational burden will be on the shoulders of both EgyptAir and Ethiopian Airlines. Will they be able to manage? Will the under-served new markets of central Africa guarantee the success of the proposed joint company?

Date: 09 October 2010 commenting on http://www.businessday.co.za/

Juba: Capital of an almost state

There is no way for any cabin crew to feel superior over passengers. This is against the basics of customer service. That is quite outrageous considering that Mr. Alaa Ashour, chairman of EgyptAir said when Air Transport World interviewed him back in March 2010:
Quote
Meanwhile, the carrier is moving forward with a comprehensive product upgrade throughout its fleet, including new catering and a reinforced "we care" service approach. At the end of January it commenced a vast training program for its 7,300-strong workforce, involving everybody from the call center to station managers to flight crew, about the importance of customer service.
Unquote

EgyptAir is about to extend some of its Cairo-Khartoum flights to Juba. Obviously, there are some valid commercial reasons for EgyptAir to establish its brand early in the to-be-announced country. Having said so, it might be imperative for EgyptAir to build a good image for itself in such a new market.

Date: 30 July 2010 commenting on http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/