Hussein Sherif, chairman of Air Cairo, presented the airline's future vision for expanding in Africa, supporting the growth of medical tourism in Egypt and developing its air network by strengthening Hurghada Airport's role as an additional hub connecting international destinations, helping to boost inbound tourism to Egypt. He was speaking at a panel discussion during the Antalya Tourism Fair (ATF 2026), held in the Turkish city of Antalya from 26 to 28 October 2026.
Sherif said African markets are one of the strategic pillars of Air Cairo's future growth plans, given the continent's promising potential for growth in travel, tourism and business. He noted that the airline has started flights to several African destinations, including Zanzibar, Nairobi and Mombasa, and plans to add new destinations including Libreville, Windhoek and Yaoundé, as well as resuming flights to Dakar and Lagos.
He explained that these steps are part of an integrated vision to expand the airline's route network and strengthen links between Egypt and African markets, offering more diverse travel options, supporting tourism and trade, and opening wider opportunities for cooperation with aviation and tourism partners across the continent.
He pointed out that developing air connectivity and capitalizing on Egypt's distinctive geographic location are key to strengthening the airline's competitiveness, while it studies the opportunities offered by additional hubs to facilitate passenger flows between markets and widen access to Egyptian tourist destinations.
Medical tourism: promising opportunities
Hussein Sherif also highlighted Egypt's promising potential in medical tourism, stressing the importance of integrating air transport, the medical sector and tourism facilities to develop a comprehensive tourism product that meets the needs of patients and their companions and strengthens Egypt's ability to attract new segments of visitors from regional and international markets.
He pointed to Safaga's outstanding natural assets, which can be leveraged to support this type of tourism, alongside developing medical services, providing suitable accommodation and upgrading infrastructure and support services, to offer an integrated experience combining treatment, relaxation and recovery.
This vision reflects the importance of closer cooperation between airlines, medical service providers, hotels and tourism authorities, supporting the diversification of Egyptian tourism products and boosting their competitiveness in international markets.
Discussing Air Cairo's business model, Sherif explained that the airline relies on a flexible operating model that allows it to adapt its services to the nature of each market and the needs of travelers, with a focus on operational efficiency, diverse travel options and service levels suited to different customer segments.
He added that this flexibility is a core pillar of the airline's strategy, enabling it to respond to market changes, make the most of available opportunities and keep expanding its domestic, regional and international network.
Flights to Turkey
Hussein Sherif announced that Air Cairo is launching new flights between Istanbul and Sharm El-Sheikh, operating twice weekly on Mondays and Thursdays from 26 October 2026. The route strengthens direct links between the Turkish market and Sharm El-Sheikh, one of Egypt's leading Red Sea destinations, known for its natural beauty, outstanding beaches and wide range of activities for visitors.
The new route is expected to provide more travel options, support inbound tourism to Sharm El-Sheikh and strengthen ties between the Turkish market and Egyptian destinations.
As part of its plans to increase capacity and meet demand for travel between Egypt and Turkey, Air Cairo also announced it will boost its Cairo–Istanbul–Cairo operations by adding two weekly flights from 28 December 2026, bringing the total to 9 weekly flights and offering greater flexibility in travel times to support tourism and business travel between the two countries.
According to the announced schedule, the airline operates daily flights SM303/304 between Cairo and Istanbul, departing Cairo at 8:00 a.m. local time, as well as flights SM301/302 on Mondays and Thursdays, departing Cairo at 2:40 p.m. local time.
These moves underline Air Cairo's commitment to pressing ahead with its expansion plans by opening new markets, strengthening its presence in strategically important destinations, increasing frequencies on routes that support tourism, travel and business, and developing connectivity solutions that meet travelers' expectations and the requirements of different markets, as part of an integrated strategy for growth and for strengthening the competitiveness of the Egyptian destination.
