EgyptAir seeks additional flights to Tel Aviv

Israeli media outlets hailed EgyptAir’s decision to operate and increase the number of flights to Tel Aviv as a sign of a boost in Israel-Egypt ties.

George Mikhail
George Mikhail
This picture taken on Jan. 16, 2020, shows an EgyptAir Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner jet parked on the tarmac at Cairo International Airport outside the Egyptian capital.
This picture taken on Jan. 16, 2020, shows an EgyptAir Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner jet parked on the tarmac at Cairo International Airport outside the Egyptian capital. — AMIR MAKAR/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli media outlets welcomed EgyptAir’s recent decision to operate and increase the number of flights to Tel Aviv. They saw in the decision a step toward achieving full normalization and peace between the two peoples and a decision that serves Egypt’s economic interests.

Egypt took the new step toward boosting relations and cooperation with Israel with the state-owned EgyptAir Holding Company when it decided on March 22 to run flights to Tel Aviv.

EgyptAir chairman and CEO Capt. Roshdy Zakaria said at the 2021 Arab Aviation Summit held on March 22 in the United Arab Emirates, "EgyptAir is considering acquiring Cairo-Tel Aviv operations from [its subsidiary] Air Sinai."

Air Sinai is a small, low-key Egyptian airline that does not bear the Egyptian flag and currently runs the flights between Egypt and Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv.

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