Egypt Air Returns to Serve Cairo-Jakarta Direct Route
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2 November 2023 20:05 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - 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 in a press statement quoted on Thursday, Nov. 2.
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.
According to the data before the COVID-19 pandemic, Egypt was the second largest contributor of foreign tourists to Indonesia among African countries, after South Africa, and the third largest among Middle Eastern countries after Saudi Arabia and Oman.
“In 2019, the number of tourists visiting Indonesia from Egypt reached 21,354. In 2022, the number was 6,857 tourists, up by 1.023 percent compared to the previous year in 2021,” he outlined.
Sandiaga Uno also confirmed that Egypt has been added to the list of countries eligible for Visa on Arrival (VoA) since 2022.
YOHANES MAHARSO JOHARSOYO
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