 | A newly-expanded airport in Egypt’s Hurghada, a prime holiday destination in the country, will now accommodate 13 million passengers annually, al-Ahram Online reported.
Speaking at the inauguration of the new terminal in the coastal Red Sea city on Wednesday, Minister of Aviation Houssam Kamal said Egyptian airports are looking to host more than 70 million visitors annually.
The expansion reportedly cost $335 million and was financed by the Arab Fun for Economic Development and a number of local banks in addition to the national bank of Egypt, he added.
Separately, the country’s national airline hired a U.S. company to help it restructure in another push to revitalize Egypt’s tourism industry, Reuters news agency reported.
Egypt Air said on Tuesday it had hired Texas-based airline advisory firm Sabre Airline Solutions to prepare a restructuring plan for the state-owned company, which has suffered about a billion dollars in losses since 2010.
A company statement did not mention the value of the contract, but it said the restructuring would focus on EgyptAir Airlines and EgyptAir Express, subsidiaries of EgyptAir Holding Company which provides flights mostly to destinations in the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
“Signing this contract comes in the context of EgyptAir seeking to effect a radical change in the business, financial, administrative and operational structures of the two countries,” Sameh Hafni, the president of EgyptAir Holding Company, said in an emailed statement.
| | |