EgyptAir is planning on launching two new routes to the United States, including its longest flight yet…
In this post:
EgyptAir adding Chicago & Los Angeles routes
EgyptAir has filed with the Department of Transportation (DOT), requesting permission to launch flights to Los Angeles (LAX) as of May 2026, and Chicago (ORD) as of June 2026.
The airline is requesting the necessary exemption as soon as possible, so that it can start marketing and selling these flights. There’s no reason EgyptAir shouldn’t get the exemption authority that enables it to operate these flights, so I’d imagine the airline will follow through on this.
EgyptAir’s wide body fleet currently consists of five Boeing 777-300ERs, eight Boeing 787-9s, four Airbus A330-200s, and four Airbus A330-300s. That being said, the airline is pretty maxed out on utilizing those planes, and plans to soon start taking delivery of Airbus A350-900s, which will allow for a significant expansion. So I’d guess that the airline will either use Boeing 787-9s for these routes, or the brand new Airbus A350-900s.
The Chicago route will cover a distance of 6,149 miles, while the Los Angeles route will cover a distance of 7,606 miles, making the latter (by far) the longest flight in EgyptAir’s network.
I’ve reviewed EgyptAir’s Boeing 787-9 business class. The airline has reverse herringbone seats, which are quite competitive. While the hard product is quite good, just about everything else leaves something to be desired. Then again, my opinions on anything related to Egypt are apparently not valid, so I’ll just leave it at that. 😉
Perhaps what’s most interesting about this new Los Angeles service is that it would mean that LAX would have a nonstop connection to all six inhabited continents. For what it’s worth, this route would technically be a resumption, as EgyptAir flew to Los Angeles decades ago.
How these routes fit into EgyptAir’s network
For context, Chicago and Los Angeles would be EgyptAir’s fifth and sixth destinations in North America. The airline also flies to New York (JFK), Newark (EWR), Toronto (YYZ), and Washington (IAD).
The Chicago route seems like a safe(ish) enough bet that feeds into a huge United hub (and EgyptAir and United are both in Star Alliance). However, I’m a little more skeptical of the viability of something like the Los Angeles service:
- The economics of ultra long haul flights are challenging, and this flight is 2,000 miles longer than EgyptAir’s service to New York
- There’s a lot more demand for travel to Africa from New York, Washington, and Toronto, than there is from Los Angeles
- While Los Angeles is also a United hub, the airline doesn’t have as much connectivity as at the other hubs; you’d basically just be funneling in a bit of traffic from the West Coast, and those are people that could also potentially route through the East Coast
- Los Angeles has a ton of wealthy people connecting to destinations that could be served one-stop via Cairo, but a vast majority of them would instead elect to fly with Emirates, Qatar, etc.
So I could be wrong, but I feel like this route might be more motivated by prestige and “Hollywood” than by traffic and yield figures. Then again, that would hardly be the first time a government owned airline launched a route for that reason.
Bottom line
EgyptAir intends to launch two new routes to the United States, including a new flight to Los Angeles as of May 2026, and a new flight to Chicago as of June 2026. While the flight aren’t yet on sale, the airline has filed with the DOT requesting permission to add these services, so hopefully that happens soon.
Chicago seems logical enough, given that it’s a United hub, so there’s lots of connectivity. However, I remain a bit more skeptical about the potential profitability of Los Angeles flights, given the length of the flight, the traffic flows, etc.
What do you make of EgyptAir adding flights to Chicago & Los Angeles? Do you think the airline will succeed?
Beware EgyptAir. See Flight 990 as the cautionary warning.
Odd that you repeatedly write about "Africa" here. Yes, Egypt is in Africa, but its also in the Middle East. When you’re talking about Egypt’s marketability for flights, referring to it as the Middle East makes a lot more sense. To give just one example of why that matters, consider how many people in SoCal who would want to fly to Jeddah for Umrah. Cairo is an excellent transit point for that route. And many others...largely in the Middle East .
You're not wrong, Franklin. While nitpicking pedants will insist that Egypt is in Africa (a fact no one disputes), that geographical fact alone does not give a full picture of Egypt's role and place in the Middle East, as you rightly point out. I like to remind people that Ireland and Britain, strictly speaking are not a part of 'Europe'. And that Japan is not part of Asia. But to all intents and purposes, they...
You're not wrong, Franklin. While nitpicking pedants will insist that Egypt is in Africa (a fact no one disputes), that geographical fact alone does not give a full picture of Egypt's role and place in the Middle East, as you rightly point out. I like to remind people that Ireland and Britain, strictly speaking are not a part of 'Europe'. And that Japan is not part of Asia. But to all intents and purposes, they indeed are part of Europe and Asia, respectively. Just like Egypt is a part of the Middle East. But some people are so stubborn (or stupid?) they will cling only onto the geographical perspective while ignoring the economic, cultural and historical perspectives, which are far more important.
Great Britain lies on the European continental shelf.
Great Britain lies on the European continental shelf.
Great Britain lies on the European continental shelf.
HARD PASS!
Shame you won't be able to review these flights departing from the world's best airport ;)
Have you checked the LAX-CAI PDEW? It’s large enough for a daily service and the Egyptian community in Los Angeles skews wealthy.
Will they be flying EgyptAir, though?
Egypt has an amazing history and the Grand Museum is phenomenal, however the elite would likely rather travel on a European airline and Cairo Airport isn’t exactly a jewel.
MS will likely attract very low yield traffic.