First non-stop flight from Cairo to Hangzhou takes off

The first ever non-stop flight from Egypt’s capital of Cairo to the city of Hangzhou in eastern China took off on Friday morning from the Cairo International Airport at 02:00 local time (00:00 GMT).

With the flight number MS953, the flight which is launched by Egypt’s flag carrier EgyptAir will spend around 11 hours in the air and land on Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport at 19:00 local time (11:00 GMT).

The flight almost carried a full cabin and the environment on the flight was quite cozy, Fu Hangliang, a passenger on the flight, told Xinhua.

EgyptAir announced the new flight route in October and offered a 50-percent discount for the flight valid until November 5 for travel from November 29 till December 31.

“The inauguration of the new routes comes within EgyptAir’s interest in expanding in the Asian market and providing a distinctive service at a competitive price,” a statement on EgyptAir’s official website said.

EgyptAir, a Star Alliance member, has previously been operating a daily flight to Guangzhou, three flights a week to Beijing, and two flights a week to Chengdu.

Egypt is a favourable attraction to hundreds of thousands of Chinese tourists each year for its historical sites and sunny sandy beaches.

Around half a million Chinese tourists visited Egypt in 2018 compared with only 300,000 in 2017, amid expectations of more tourists visiting the North African country in 2019, according to official statistics.

Source: Xinhua