By Akram Medhat
Hesham El-Demery, head of the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority, today approved the work of the flight incentive committee to pay out a package from the incentive program to companies that applied to benefit from the programs up to December 2016, covering all types of flights, charter, scheduled, low-cost and mixed, from all markets, especially the Ukrainian, German and Italian markets.
Major General Ahmed Hamdy, Deputy Head of the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority and head of the committee responsible for the aviation file at the authority, stated that the review work is expected to be completed to pay out another package of the flight incentive program for flights operated from January to March 2017, provided they comply with the announced payment rules, adding that payment for that period will be completed by the middle of next month.
He pointed out that the current program ends on October 31, 2017, but the examination of the files of all companies that carried out incentive programs for the remaining period is still ongoing, noting that the ministry is currently studying extending the incentive program for another year, especially after the Tourism Fund approved this in principle.
It is worth noting that the flight incentive file was transferred from the Egyptian Tourism Federation to the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority in November 2016, as the flight incentive system is an important part of the tourism promotion system. Controls on the mechanisms for paying dues are carried out through a joint system involving the Ministry of Tourism, represented by the Promotion Authority; the Ministry of Civil Aviation, represented by the Civil Aviation Authority; the Egyptian Airports Company; and the Passports, Immigration and Nationality Administration at the Ministry of Interior, after consulting the oversight bodies to avoid the difficulties of the previous system.
