São Paulo – Cairo, in Egypt, and São Paulo, in Brazil, will have weekly nonstop flights starting in December by Egypt’s flag carrier airline EgyptAir, which began operations at Guarulhos Airport this Sunday (3) (pictured above). Until December, flights will be biweekly, departing from Cairo on Saturday evenings and from São Paulo at 4:00 am on Mondays. The flights are chartered and operated by the company Egypt Flights (a subsidiary of Master Flights), which this Sunday presented the details of the operation in Guarulhos.
According to the commercial director of Master Flights, Marlene de Sousa, regular scheduled flights announced in recent months have already increased demand from passengers and companies for the nonstop flights between the two cities. “I have no doubt it will impact the trade relationship between the countries. This is already happening because companies with employees in the technology sector working with Egyptian clients have already contacted us and shown interest in this flight. I think culture and leisure tourism will continue to be the main pattern of the route; still, business tourism also gains opportunities,” said Sousa. She stated that, until today, the shortest routes between São Paulo and Cairo could not be made in less than 19 hours with connections. Now, the trip takes 12:30 hours nonstop.
The route between Cairo and São Paulo will be operated by a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, with a capacity for 279 passengers in economy class and 21 in business class. According to Sousa, this airplane allowed the creation of the flight because it could cover the stretch between Cairo and São Paulo without refueling. The aircraft’s crew is from EgyptAir, and the ground operation is by Swissport.
Egypt Flights’ partner travel agencies can only sell air tickets between the two cities or tour packages to Egypt. Currently, the only section sold is between São Paulo and Cairo. Even so, Sousa noted a sizeable demand from customers from China, Russia, and Belarus to layover in Cairo to travel to Brazil. She said the first flight to Cairo, to depart this Monday (4), has 68% occupancy. The next flight, departing on September 18, is 71% full.
The CEO of Master Flights, Alfonso Martinez, stated in this Sunday’s launch the new flight represents the “fulfillment of a dream,” which became possible with EgyptAir’s desire to fly to Brazil and the support of the Embassy of Egypt in Brasilia. The commercial director of GRU Airport, João Pita, stated this flight is another example of the importance of Guarulhos Airport for South America. “In addition to regular aviation, we must look for more types of flights, such as chartered, summer, and winter. And Master Flights chose São Paulo because they believe they will make their flight profitable and do business here,” he said.
Currently, regular nonstop flights connecting Brazil to Arab countries are operated by Qatar Airways, from the namesake Gulf country, and Emirates Airlines, from UAE’s emirate of Dubai. The presentation was attended by the director of EgyptAir’s Non-Scheduled Flights Division Department, Ahmed Ali; the Secretary of State for Tourism of São Paulo, Roberto de Lucena; and the mayor of Guarulhos, Gustavo Henric Costa.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
