EgyptAir on crisis footing
The outbreak of war in Iraq has led to serious disruptions in Egypt's aviation sector, reports Amira Ibrahim
As war broke out in Iraq, concerns have been raised over whether more than one million Egyptians working in Iraq and Kuwait would be able to return home safely. Meanwhile, EgyptAir was preparing a "crisis committee", responsible for the implementation of the company's war contingency plans.
"Just before war broke out, EgyptAir organised a series of extra flights between Cairo and Kuwait, in addition to its regular schedule of 12 flights a week," stated As'ad Darwish, EgyptAir's vice-president and supervisor of the "crisis committee". "Over a four-day period, the number of extra flights reached 24, transferring a total figure of 8500 passengers from Kuwait," Darwish told Al-Ahram Weekly.
"We operated our larger aircraft; Airbus A340s, A300-600Rs and Boeing 777s to transfer the daily load of 1500-1800 passengers from Kuwait, even though we have the capacity to transfer up to 5000 passengers," he stated.
The national carrier also sent teams to the airport in Amman, Jordan; Al-Dammam Airport in Saudi Arabia and Doha Airport in Qatar, from where passengers will be flown in the event that there were difficulties with operations in Kuwait. However, "this option has not been used as air traffic to and from Kuwait has not been halted," Darwish concluded.
Due to a capacity shortage at Kuwait International Airport, however, the Kuwaiti authorities committed airlines to maintain a three-hour interval between each extra flight, which translated into no more than eight extra flights a day.
But for those rushing to airports, seeking safe passage out of the war zone, the national carrier was blamed. "We had to wait for more than 10 hours at airports amid fear and worry. I cannot see why the company did not use its fleet to transfer all Egyptians on a single day instead of leaving us to suffer for days on end," said Abdel-Mawgoud Ali, a teacher. "I do not buy this, I just want to feel that my government looks after me and my family during these difficult times. They could have managed it [the evacuation] well if they cared enough," he added angrily as he arrived at Cairo Airport on Friday.
Many others shared Ali's view. However, some were more cautious, acting early to secure safe passage for their families. "I sent my wife and children three weeks before the war in order not to face a threat similar to that of 1991, when Iraqi soldiers invaded Kuwait," stated Samir Murqos, an engineer who has been working in Kuwait for more than 20 years. "Everything went pretty well, given the circumstances. I think EgyptAir did a good job. There are hundreds of passengers of other nationalities who will be waiting for days to return home," he added.
By Sunday, EgyptAir had stopped its extra flights to Kuwait. Due to a decline in sales, the company also decided to scale back its schedule by 40 per cent, postponing flights to Kuwait from Assiut, Alexandria and Luxor. Ticket prices also increased after the International Insurance Offices Association imposed a $25 fee for each ticket to or from Kuwait. For unknown reasons, EgyptAir raised insurance fees to $113 for each ticket. When asked, officials at EgyptAir did not have an explanation, saying only that the increase was being studied.
At Cairo International Airport, a state of emergency was announced during the first three days of the war with a strong officer and security agents presence in the arrival and customs halls.
"Our main concern is to facilitate procedures for passengers, but under these circumstances we have security concerns as well. We are working to ensure the safety of buildings and facilities as well as to discover illegal attempts to enter the country that usually occur in such situations," stated Major General Mohamed Salama, head of airport security. Salama indicated that over the past week, a number of illegal attempts at entry were uncovered. He added, however, that these were lower in number than during the 1991 Gulf War.
Officials at the Aviation Ministry have also been busy studying the impact of the war on the industry and looking for solutions to its growing problems. "The aviation sector is expected to lose 25-40 per cent of its revenue due to a reduction in air traffic to Egypt," stated Magdeddin Rif'at, a source at the Aviation Ministry. "The amount of losses will depend on how long the war lasts. This includes losses to the national carrier, the airports and other related sectors," Rif'at added.
To deal with the reduction in air traffic and mitigate resulting losses, EgyptAir has adopted a number of procedures and actions. "We have consolidated our 20 flights to Europe into 10, operating only to capitals and large cities," explained Darwish. "We have also temporarily cancelled 17 scheduled flights to Europe. Our long distance route network has also been modified with the scaling back of New York flights from four a week to three. We have stopped our two direct flights to Tokyo and Osaka and reduced our Japan operations to three flights a week from five," he added.
While some foreign airlines in Egypt have scaled back their operations, others have added more flights to their schedules. Earlier this week, Air France reduced its schedule from seven flights a week to six.
However, the German carrier, Lufthansa, has added three extra flights to expand its schedule, which now stands at 24 flights a week.
Over the coming period, EgyptAir will be trying to increase its share of the aviation market at the expense of those carriers which have scaled back their operations. "We have made an offer to many foreign airlines to transfer their passengers [to EgyptAir] until they are able to resume their regular flights. We are optimistic about some replies," said Darwish. However, he refused to reveal the airlines to which the offers had been made.
