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21-Feb-2011 8:36 AM

EgyptAir seeks to lease out 25 aircraft as profits hit by unrest

EgyptAir stated (20-Feb-2011) it was offering to lease 25 of its newest aircraft to other carriers, in a bid to offset "staggering" losses linked to the unrest that led more than 200,000 tourists to flee the country. The company is offering to provide crew to staff the aircraft, which it was making available to Star Alliance carriers. EgyptAir has struggled throughout the anti-government protests, which began on 25-Jan-2011 and continued for 18 days before President Hosni Mubarak stepped down. The airline has canceled around 75% of its flights and seen little incoming traffic. 40% of the carrier's fleet has been grounded with the carrier losing about 80% of its project revenue as a result. To further reduce costs, the carrier is looking at cutting working hours, no longer offering board members stipends to attend the meetings and "opening the door for (employees) to take leaves of absence without pay." It would also allow employees to work half-time, and was canceling some services that had seen little passenger traffic even before the unrest. Tourism accounts for around 5% of Egypt's GDP. 210,000 tourist fleet the country in the last week of Jan-2011 with cancellations for Feb-2011 having a USD825 million negative revenue impact on the Egyptian economy. [more]

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