Egypt announces plans for possible return of flights between Cairo and Lusaka

The Egyptian government has announced that Egypt Air will resume flights between Cairo and Lusaka this year after servicing the route 14 years ago.

Egyptian Ambassador to Zambia, Moataz Anwar, said his government was working with the aviation authority in order to urge the airline to resume its operations to Zambia.

Anwar said this when he paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Transport and Logistics, Frank Tayali, in Lusaka on Saturday.

He said his government had noticed the increased volumes of passengers coming to Zambia and travelling to other destinations in the world.

“Egypt Air will definitely find the route economically viable. The move will be actualised so that the flights between the two countries are resumed,” Anwar stated.

He said his country had improved greatly its railway sector, ports and road network as well as undertaken other massive projects in the past ten years.

Anwar added that it was time for Egypt to extend its expertise and contribute to Zambia’s development.

He also said his country believed that there was room for contribution in the transport sector especially, with regard to the Lobito Corridor, and that once provided with the list of projects, Egypt was ready to share its expertise.

“Egypt is ready to participate in the development of Zambia’s transport and logistics sector as government envisages to transform the country into a regional hub for transport and logistics,” Anwar stated.

During the meeting, Tayali expressed happines that the Arab Republic of Egypt intended to resume flights between Cairo and Lusaka through Egypt Air.

He said Zambia once benefited from direct flights from Cairo to Lusaka and would appreciate the service between the two countries to resume.

In addition, the Minister said that in civil aviation, the Ministry had benefited from Egypt through training of its officers, the last one being in air space planning held in Cairo in 2023.

“The Ministry stands to benefit immensely from the knowledge from Egypt in the aviation and maritime sectors as well as other sectors of development,” he noted.

He also stated that the two countries have a signed Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA).

Tayali also commended Egypt for heeding Zambia’s call to the international community that the country was ready for business, adding that investment expenditure was the way to go in terms of turning around the economy of the country.

“Zambia has established very key trade corridors that traverse the country connecting to the neighbouring countries, hence the need to become the main regional facilitator for not only internal trade, but to cater for other countries,” he said.

The two leaders further discussed a number of pertinent issues concerning the various developmental projects the new dawn administration has embarked on.

Egypt Air last serviced the Zambian route in 2010, which is 14 years ago.

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