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AlMasria Universal Airlines
Founded	2008
Hubs	Cairo International Airport
Secondary hubs	Alexandria International Airport; Luxor International Airport; Assiut Airport
Fleet size	2
Destinations	4
Company slogan	Enjoy easy fly.
Headquarters	Cairo, Egypt
Key people	Hassan Aziz (President & CEO)
Website	http://www.almasriaairlines.com/

AlMasria Universal Airlines (known as AlMasria Airlines in short) is an airline based in Egypt. Plans for the airline were announced in the 2008 and launched operations during June 2009. The airline is currently operating charter services from Egypt to Europe however is planning to become Egypt's second flag-carrier offering scheduled services to around 20 destinations in the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe. The airline will become the only private Egyptian scheduled operator when it launches scheduled services in late 2009.

AlMasria is derived from the Arabic word for 'Egypt'.

[edit] Operations

Plans to launch AlMasria Universal Airlines were announced in 2008. The Cairo-based carrier, privately backed by four Egyptian businessmen. In an interview in April 2009 the company President & CEO (and former pilot), Hassan Aziz, stated that the airline will launch operations in 2009 to take advantage of low prices during the global financial crisis to tap demand for air travel in the most populous Arab country. "It's an opportunity that must be grabbed to form a company at a price I won't have in two years. Fuel prices are down, support equipment is cheap, services are very cheap, and (the salary bill for) the manpower that makes or breaks an airline is down."

AlMasria enters the market as a ‘value based’ airline, offering special pricing for booking early or by phone or internet. Aziz states "Under the value-focused approach, AlMasria will provide competitive pricing on its tickets, implement aggressive distribution policy, be consistent in product delivery, provide high customer service, and capture international flight connections. And that could only be accomplished through an innovative business approach offering superb value for money and a safe, reliable operation.”

The company offers cargo services in the bellyhold of its passenger fleet.

Maintenance is outsourced completely to EgyptAir under a total service agreement, with the airline also training AlMasria flight crew and the technical team. Ground-handling will be through EgyptAir, with passenger services undertaken by Egypt Aviation Services and catering by a new venture between EgyptAir and Lufthansa's LSG Sky Chefs.

[edit] Destinations

The airline currently (Summer 2009) is operating scheduled flights to Kuwait - Kuwait International Airport from:

Other destinations earmarked by Aziz include Europe and Middle East with specific mention of Libya, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Jordan in addition to Copenhagen and Milan. AlMasria is also looking to lever the current bilateral talks taking place between Cairo and Baghdad.

[edit] Fleet

The AlMasria Universal Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft (at December 2009):

**AlMasria Universal Airlines Fleet**
Aircraft	In Service	Orders	Passengers (Economy)	Notes
Airbus A320	2	-	180	Leased from BOC Aviation
Total	2	-		Last updated: December 2009

The airline's fleet will centre around the Airbus A320 aircraft. The first aircraft arrived in Egypt in April 2009 and second in August 2009. Both aircraft are leased from BOC Aviation

The airline's CEO stated the plans call for a further 3 A320 will join during the first year of operation. An eventual fleet of 10 aircraft is planned by 2014. "We aim to dry-lease the first aircraft for the first three years," says Aziz. "After five years we aim to buy aircraft from Airbus by 2014. We don't want to load the balance sheet by buying $250 million in assets at the start."

AlMasria will configure the aircraft with 180 all-economy seat, but is keen to stress that it is not a low-cost airline and will provide a full on-board service. Cairo-originating services will feature two cabins with aircraft configured with 165 seats.

[edit] External links

Official website

[edit] References

Contents

[edit] Operations

[edit] Destinations

[edit] Fleet

[edit] External links

[edit] References