Number of Baku-Sharm el-Sheikh flights expected to double in 2020

24 September 2019 18:25 (UTC+04:00)

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By Rasana Gasimova

The number of flights from Baku to Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh summer resort will double, Hatem Kenaui, the head of Selfie Travel in Egypt told local media.

“We are planning to increase the number of flights to two flights a week,” Kenaui said, adding that the flight numbers will increase after Novruz holidays in Spring 2020.

He stated that the doubling of the frequency of flights is due to high demand of this direction in Azerbaijan.

“Two thousand Azerbaijani tourists were transported since the first Baku-Sharm el-Sheikh flight in July 18, 2019,” he said. Kenaui also mentioned that average flight occupancy rates were 85 percent during the specified period.

The regular direct Baku-Sharm el-Sheikh flight has been operated every Thursday since July 18, 2019 on the Boeing 757-200 airliner of SCAT Airlines, which received the fifth freedom rights from Azerbaijan, under the Sunday Airlines tourist brand.

The frequency of tours is from seven to 14 days.

Commenting on the first flight on this route, The Deputy Director for Sales of the Selfie Travel Baku office, Valentina Kharakhordina noted that the flight’s program has already been extended for the winter, as there are reservation requests for the period of New Year.

The Egyptian company Air Cairo opened a direct flight from Sharm El Sheikh to Baku in June 2016. However, it suspended flights on this route since July 4, 2016 due to the weak occupancy. Since then, the parties have been discussing the issue of resuming direct flights.

Tourism has traditionally played one of the most important places in Egypt’s economy, and the doubling of direct flights number between Azerbaijan and Egypt will surely benefit the country, as well as Azerbaijan, which is turning into a major tourist destination in the South Caucasus region.