AlMasria Universal Airlines ( ar, المصرية العالمية للطيران; also known as AlMasria Airlines) is an Egyptian private

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

based in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. The airline operates scheduled and charter services from Egypt. 'AlMasria' is derived from the Arabic word for 'Egyptian'.

Operations

Plans for AlMasria Universal Airlines were announced in 2008 and the airline launched operations in June 2009. In an interview in April 2009 the appointed company president and CEO, Hassan Aziz stated that the airline would launch operations in 2009 to take advantage of low prices during the global financial crisis to tap demand for air travel in the most populous Arab country. The first aircraft arrived in Egypt in April 2009 and the second one in August 2009. Both aircraft are leased from

BOC Aviation BOC Aviation is a majority state-owned global aircraft operating leasing company and the largest aircraft operating leasing company headquartered in Asia, as measured by the value of owned aircraft. BOC Aviation is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Ex ...

. The airline's CEO stated the plans call for a further 3 A320 will join during the first year of operation. An eventual fleet of 10 aircraft is planned by 2014. "We aim to dry-lease the first aircraft for the first three years", says Aziz. "After five years we aim to buy aircraft from Airbus by 2014. We don't want to load the balance sheet by buying $250 million in assets at the start." In December 2009 the airline became the first international airline to operate flights to

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

Yanbu Airport Yanbu Airport is an airport near Yanbu, Saudi Arabia. It offers both domestic and international service. The airport's full name is Prince Abdul Mohsin bin Abdulaziz International Airport. Operations The airport was upgraded in late 2009 to e ...

. In June 2010 the airline repeated the milestone at Qassim Regional Airport. Previously both Yanbu and Qassim airports were domestic airports. Both flights originate from

Cairo International Airport Cairo International Airport (; ''Maṭār El Qāhira El Dawly'') is the principal international airport of Cairo and the largest and busiest airport in Egypt. It serves as the primary hub for Egyptair and Nile Air as well as several other ...

. The company also offers cargo services in the bellyhold of its passenger fleet. Maintenance is outsourced completely to

Egyptair Egyptair (Egyptian Arabic Egyptian Arabic, locally known as Colloquial Egyptian ( ar, العامية المصرية, ), or simply Masri (also Masry) (), is the most widely spoken vernacular Arabic dialect in Egypt. It is part of the Afro-A ...

under a total service agreement, with the airline also training AlMasria flight crew and the technical team. Ground-handling will be through Egyptair, with passenger services undertaken by Egypt Aviation Services and catering by a new venture between Egyptair and

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...

's LSG Sky Chefs. In 2017, the airline scaled back scheduled operations and resumed charter services and ACMI operations (including

Tunis Air Société Tunisienne de l'Air, or Tunisair ( ar, الخطوط التونسية) is the national airline of Tunisia. Formed in 1948, it operates scheduled international services to four continents. Its main base is Tunis–Carthage International ...

Destinations

The AlMasria Universal Airlines route network consists of the following destinations:

Fleet

As of February 2020, The AlMasria Universal Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:

References

* https://web.archive.org/web/20101106100638/http://www.eyeofdubai.com/v1/news/newsdetail-29831.htm

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:AlMasria Universal Airlines Airlines of Egypt Airlines established in 2008 Companies based in Cairo Egyptian companies established in 2008