EgyptAir increases domestic flights to 200 in Eid

CAIRO - 20 August 2018: EgyptAir announced on Monday that it increased its domestic flights to 200 until Thursday on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha. The breakdown is 61 for Sharm El-Sheikh, 52 for Hurghada, 42 for Aswan, 32 for Luxor, nine for Borg Al-Arab, and four for Marsa Alam.

Official statistics issued by the Red Sea governorate showed that the number of tourists who visited the cities of the Red Sea in July reached 505,710 tourists, marking an increase of more than 130,000 tourists compared to June.

This number includes 125,141 tourists from Germany, 106,731 from Egypt, 36,000 from the Czech Republic, 24,000 from Poland, 24,000 from Britain, 17,000 from Ukraine, 16,500 from the Netherlands, 13,000 from Austria, 12,800 from Belgium, 12,000 from Slovakia, 11,000 from Belarus, 10,700 from Italy, 8,700 from France, and 8,000 from Switzerland.

EgyptAir previously operated 17 flights to carry a total of 3,675 Egyptian Muslims to Saudi Arabia's Mecca to perform pilgrimage rituals (Hajj).

Nine flights flew from Cairo and Sharm El- Sheikh to Jeddah, while eight others left for Medina, stated the state-owned news agency MENA.

A total of 325 flights carrying 62,000 pilgrims flew to Saudi Arabia, including pilgrims from Mali and Palestine for the 2018 Hajj season.

EgyptAir began operating flights of pilgrims as of August 1, when pilgrims from both North and South Sinai arrived Jeddah International Airport. However, the first flight to Medina took off August 2, carrying pilgrims from Giza and Port Said governorates, according to Chairman of the national carrier company Sherif Ezzat.

The hajj, a five-day ritual which retraces the journey of Prophet Mohammad that took place 14 centuries ago, is a religious duty that should be carried out once in a lifetime for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it.

It is the world's largest annual Muslim gathering, with over 2.3 million people attending this year. The faithful come from nearly every country in the world, speaking dozens of languages and sometimes practicing Islam in different ways based on local customs or traditions.