This charter route will initially only have one flight per week. More weekly programs could be added in the future.
EgyptAir will begin operating direct flights between So Paulo Guarulhos International Airport and Cairo International Airport (CAI), the country of Egypt’s busiest hub, on September 4, 2023. (GRU). This would be Guarulhos’ third direct link from Africa once it was launched.
a fresh offering from Egypt
Following a contract signed on March 16, 2023, in Cairo with representatives of EgyptAir and Alfonso Martinez, CEO of MasterFlights, the flights will be charters and entirely run by Spain’s largest air consolidator, MasterFlights. The Brazilian news source Mercado & Eventos broke the story first. During the following 12 months, the new service will be offered on a weekly basis, starting on Monday.
The EgyptAir Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, which has 309 seats, including 279 in economy class and 30 in business class, will transport passengers. The National Civil Aviation Administration of Brazil has given its approval for the flights (ANAC). There will be domestic connections inside Egypt as well as flights to Tel Aviv, Amman, Dubai, and Istanbul on the charter planes. The World Travel Market Latin America (WTM-LA), which will be held in So Paulo from April 3 to 5, 2023, is where the service will be formally introduced.
In a message published on LinkedIn, Joao Pita, the commercial director at Guarulhos International, stated:
“At GRU Airport, the Aeroporto International de So Paulo, we do have exciting news! In September, Egyptair and MasterFlights will launch a weekly charter to So Paulo with the potential to increase the number of weekly flights. We’ve been wanting to travel the trip between Cairo and So Paulo for a very long time. Good airlines, products, an outstanding marketing and sales team, and diligent work are the best ways to encourage and promote new destinations. A benefit on such a long route is cargo.
Operators and travel agencies in the Brazilian market will have the chance to participate in this eagerly anticipated project of EgyptAir, according to MasterFlights CEO Alfonso Martinez. There are plans to add other frequencies if they are successful. A third weekly route with solely flights to Guarulhos might begin in September 2024, while a second weekly flight with links to Buenos Aires, Argentina, could begin in May 2024.
For almost a year, EgyptAir has been in negotiations with Brazilian authorities. During conversations with representatives of Visite So Paulo and the So Paulo Tourist Administration at ITB 2023, the company expressed interest in the Brazilian market.
The airline also disclosed its plans to run charter flights because its regular flights are subject to double taxation while entering and exiting Brazil because the two nations do not have trade agreements. The addition of direct flights between Brazil and Egypt is anticipated to enhance connectivity, strengthen economic and commercial ties between the two nations, and provide tourists from both regions with more travel options.
74 aircraft are now in the EgyptAir fleet, according to information from ch-aviation. For long-haul flights, it uses six Boeing 787 Dreamliner 9s, six B777-300(ER)s, four Airbus A330-200s, and four A330-300s. The airline also operates 28 Boeing 737-800s, 12 Airbus A220-300s, three A320ceos, eight A320neos, one A321neo, and a few freight planes.
