By Akram Medhat
The first scheduled flights between Cairo and the city of Aqaba in Jordan took off yesterday, Friday, operated by an aircraft of Petroleum Air Services (PAS), which was announced last March.
In this context, Moataz Sedky, General Manager of Travco Holidays, the general sales agent of PAS, stressed the importance of operating this route, as it will serve Hajj and Umrah trips and trade between the two countries, in addition to the possibility of promoting tour programs that boost traffic to the city of Taba, the closest to Aqaba, as well as Dahab and Sharm El-Sheikh, and Petra in Jordan.
He added in exclusive statements to Travel Yalla News that the ticket price is very reasonable and competitive, ranging from 1,600 to 2,200 pounds one way. A weekly flight departs on Fridays at 4 p.m. from Cairo Airport to Aqaba Airport in Jordan, with a flight time of 50 minutes, which also makes it easy to travel to Taba, as the ferry across the Gulf of Aqaba can be used for only 20 minutes, especially since Jordan does not require a visa, instead of arriving via the capital, Amman.
He continued that entering the Jordanian border requires security clearance from the relevant authorities in Egypt if travelers are under 45 years of age, except for those working in the government sector or tourism companies, or those holding a valid visa for a European country or the United States.
He explained that the route is operated on a scheduled basis by a modern PAS aircraft, a CRJ-900 with a capacity of 89 seats, and the flight is booked through Travco Holidays, as it is the general sales agent of Petroleum Air Services.
Sedky revealed that there are plans to increase frequencies to two flights a week, on Mondays and Fridays, to serve weekend trip programs, especially tourist ones that include the cities of Taba and Aqaba, noting that the start date of the second flight has not been set, as demand on the route is being studied.
He pointed out that the new route aims to facilitate travel to the brotherly Kingdom of Jordan, especially since Aqaba is a destination to which no Egyptian airline flies, and it also facilitates flights to other points, in addition to boosting trade and tourism between Jordan and Egypt.
He said the route will open the way to selling programs that include Egypt and Jordan, linking the cities of Sharm El-Sheikh, Dahab and Taba in Egypt with Petra in Jordan, noting that British tourists are the most in demand for these religious trips combined with beach leisure, and in the event of British flights to Sharm El-Sheikh, it will become one of the main programs to be promoted, and it can also be linked to cultural tourism programs that include Cairo, Luxor and Aswan.
On another note, he explained that the new route will serve overland Hajj and Umrah trips, as it will save Egyptians time and the hardship of travel to reach the Jordanian border, in which case Jordanian transport companies are contracted to carry pilgrims to Saudi territory. This will certainly affect Egyptian tourism companies that rely on this activity to operate their fleets, and they may therefore fight the idea, he said, pointing to the problems of traveling through the seaport of Nuweiba to reach Jordan.
Meanwhile, Sedky pointed to the memorandum of understanding to be concluded between officials of the Aqaba "Golden Triangle" area and the Egyptian Chamber of Tourism Companies through its Training Committee, to raise the efficiency of workers in the Jordanian tourism industry in various activities, including the management of tourism companies and aviation, to serve as a building block for launching a similar chamber in Aqaba to regulate the work of companies.
