Egypt Air returns to serve Cairo-Jakarta direct route

Egypt’s national flag carrier, Egypt Air, officially launched its first direct flight connecting Cairo and Jakarta on Tuesday, October 31. Indonesian Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno attended the inaugural flight ceremony at Terminal 3 of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, expressing his hope that the direct flights would encourage foreign tourists from Africa and the Middle East to visit Indonesia. “After 7 years, as the last flight [of Cairo-Jakarta] was in 2016, Egypt Air is flying again on the Cairo-Jakarta-Cairo route, with a frequency of once or twice a week,” the minister said Thursday. Back in 2016, Egypt Air served the Cairo-Jakarta route with a transit in Bangkok. Sandiaga hoped that the international flight would improve the quality of facilities and services in the tourism and creative economy sectors. “We hope that Egypt Air can fly daily, not only to transport foreign tourists but also to export products. The creative economy sector, such as spices and coffee, are export commodities to Egypt,” he added. Egypt Air is scheduled to fly twice a week with an estimated flight time of 10 hours using the Dreamliner 787-900 aircraft, which can accommodate 309 passengers per flight. Flights from Jakarta to Cairo will be available every Wednesday and Friday, while flights from Cairo to Jakarta will be available every Tuesday and Thursday.<br/>