Low-Cost Egyptian Airline to Launch Direct Flights to Dubai

Air Cairo, a budget airline, will soon launch direct flights between Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt) and Dubai. The flights will begin on 20 April 2023 and will run twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, departing from Dubai World Central Airport (DWC), also called Al Maktoum International Airport.

Air Cairo’s flight SM492 will take off from DWC at 8:35 AM and land at Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport (SSH) at 9:50 AM.

On the other hand, flight SM491 will depart from Sharm El-Sheikh at 3:15 AM and arrive in Dubai at 7:35 AM. Air Cairo recently added its 20th A320 Neo to its fleet, bringing the total number of aircraft to 30 as of the end of March.

Egypt aims to boost its tourist numbers by 25-30% annually and attract 30 million visitors by 2028. According to the country’s statistics agency, Capmas, the number of tourists visiting Egypt massively decreased from around 13 million in 2019 to 3.7 million in 2020 owing to the pandemic.

However, the numbers recovered to eight million in 2021. Egypt’s tourism sector revenue also plummeted to $4 billion in 2020 from $13 billion in 2019, then again increasing to $9 billion in 2021.

Egyptian tourism authorities stated that the country needs 300,000 hotel rooms and an investment of $30 billion in accommodations and tourist experiences to reach its targets. Sharm El Sheikh, located on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, is an attractive destination that hosted the UN Climate Change Conference in November 2022.