Star Alliance member EgyptAir is expanding its Asia-Pacific network in November with the launch of a fourth route to China.
Commencing on Nov. 16, three weekly flights will connect Cairo International Airport (CAI) and Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG). The outbound flights will run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, returning the following day. EgyptAir plans to utilize Boeing 777-300 aircraft for the 5,198-mi. (4,517-nm) route.
Shanghai becomes the fourth Chinese city served by the carrier, alongside Beijing, Guangzhou and Hangzhou. By December, the airline’s Asia-Pacific network will also include Dhaka, Bangladesh; Jakarta, Indonesia; Mumbai and New Delhi, India; and Tokyo Narita, bringing the total to nine destinations in the region.
The new service marks the restoration of nonstop connectivity between Egypt and Shanghai after a five-year hiatus. Previously, the now-defunct Cairo-based charter carrier Air Leisure operated weekly flights using Airbus A330-200 aircraft between Aswan International Airport and PVG, until suspending its operations in October 2018.
EgyptAir has been steadily growing its Asia-Pacific network in recent months, launching flights to Dhaka in May and resuming service Tokyo Narita in September.
A new route from CAI to Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport (CGK) will begin at the end of October, operating three times per week aboard 787-9s. EgyptAir last served CGK for a limited time in 2014, and there have been no nonstop flights between Egypt and Indonesia since then.
Confirmation of the carrier’s expansion in the Chinese market comes days after Chinese President Xi Jingping met with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly in Beijing. According to China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, the two leaders agreed to strengthen ties and work toward “common prosperity.”
“China is ready to deepen synergy of development strategies with Egypt, encourage capable Chinese companies to invest and do business in Egypt, and welcome more high-quality Egyptian products to enter the Chinese market,” a statement released by the ministry says.
President Xi also said China would work with Arab governments to bring “more stability” to the Middle East in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.
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