Traffic and aircraft movements plunge in Egypt in 2013

Traffic declined by 6% and aircraft movements plunged by 4.8% at airports in Egypt in 2013, according to reports.

The Daily News Egypt quotes chairman Ashraf Zaki of the Egyptian Holding Company for Airports and Air Navigation (EHCAAN) in a report, who explains the drops were almost the same rate as in 2012.

Up to 31 million passengers used the company’s airports in 2013, compared to 33 million passengers the year before.

He attributed the fall to the travel bans on Egypt that had been imposed by several tourist exporting countries in mid-August 2013.

Some 29 airports are affiliated with the company, 10 of which are international and 19 domestic, and include Cairo International Airport, Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghda, Luxor, Aswan and Borg Al-Arab.

According to Zaki, EHCAAN is doing “its best” to restore Cairo International Airport to its former status as the top airport in Africa after falling to third place in 2013, behind South Africa’s Johanessburg and Cape Town.

Zaki is also quoted as saying EHCAAN is concluding negotiations with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) over a loan to finance the new terminal at the Borg Al-Arab Airport and the company aims to raise the capacity of the airport to four million passengers a year.

And he says the Al-Nozha Airport in Alexandria will also be developed, which was closed in 2012 with the development including the renewal of the arrival and departure halls and the passenger terminal in addition to constructing a new airway.

And an Airport City is set to be built adjacent to Cairo International, which Zaki says will help upgrade the airport’s efficiency and transform it into a large trade complex to serve inbound travels.

EHCAAN also intends to enhance the capacity of the Sharm El-Sheikh Airport from its current eight million passengers to 18 million, and Zaki says the company is negotiating with the World Bank over a loan for financing the project.