EgyptAir Plans To Launch Cairo To Los Angeles Flights

EgyptAir Plans To Launch Cairo To Los Angeles Flights

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EgyptAir is planning on launching its longest flight yet, as flagged by @IshrionA.

EgyptAir plans Los Angeles route as of October 2023

While flights aren’t yet on sale, EgyptAir has filed with the Department of Transportation (DOT) requesting permission to launch service to yet another destination in the United States. Specifically, the airline is hoping to add flights between Cairo (CAI) and Los Angeles (LAX) as of late October 2023, at the start of the winter season for airlines.

EgyptAir wants to fly from Cairo to Los Angeles

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 this service, so I’d imagine the airline will follow through on this.

EgyptAir hasn’t yet announced with what frequencies it plans to offer this service, and with what aircraft. I’d guess the airline will use a Boeing 787-9 and will offer less than daily frequencies, though I could be wrong. EgyptAir’s Boeing 787-9s feature 309 seats, including 30 business class seats and 279 economy class seats.

At 7,606 miles, this would be (by far) the longest flight in EgyptAir’s network. You can expect the flight would take an average of around 14 hours in each direction.

I recently reviewed EgyptAir’s Boeing 787-9 business class. The airline has reverse herringbone seats, which are quite competitive. While the hard product is good, just about everything else leaves something to be desired.

Perhaps what’s most interesting about this new 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.

EgyptAir Boeing 787 business class

How this route fits into EgyptAir’s network

For context, Los Angeles would be EgyptAir’s fifth destination in North America. The airline also flies:

  • 7x weekly to New York (JFK)
  • 3x weekly to Newark (EWR)
  • 5x weekly to Toronto (YYZ)
  • 4x weekly to Washington (IAD)
EgyptAir Boeing 787 at Cairo Airport

Personally I’m skeptical of the viability of this kind of 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 the New York, Washington, and Toronto, than there is from Los Angeles
  • While Los Angeles is also a United hub (and both United and EgyptAir are in the Star Alliance), 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.

EgyptAir Boeing 787 after departing Cairo

Bottom line

EgyptAir intends to launch flights to Los Angeles as of late October 2023. While the flight isn’t yet on sale, the airline has filed with the DOT requesting permission to add this service. I remain skeptical about the viability of this (unlike the rest of EgyptAir’s service to North America, which is logical and conservative), though I’m curious to see how this plays out.

What do you make of EgyptAir adding flights to Los Angeles? Do you think the airline will succeed?

Conversations (38)
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  1. Wagdy Henen Guest

    I am sure that Egyptair will succeed if they will compete with other airlines, I used to fly from Dubai to LAx till the accident 31 of October 1999, it was sad
    My flying since 1990, please review your price, so you can get more transit, look to Emirates how many passengers transit are carried daly
    Wishing you al the best Egyptair

  2. Esom Guest

    I'm sure Egypt Air will perform very well on the Caior to Los Angeles route and even if it's not a 7x weekly flight, a 3x weekly flight can still do the trick. Also, LAX being a Star Alliance hub will also make alot of sense since the airline is a member. LAX really needs a direct flight to Africa again. After all many people who fly with Egypt Air Newyork to Cairo live in the west coast as well and I hope Ethiopian resumes their LAX route as well.

  3. PW Guest

    14 hours without a cocktail or glass of wine? Are your kidding?

    1. Esom Guest

      Saudia is also a dry airline and serves the LAX route as well so what's up with that?

  4. Eliyahu Guest

    I wonder if Egyptair would sell me a ticket LAX-CAI-TLV. That could be an interesting way to get there.

  5. Styrian Guest

    Based on EgyptAir long-standing unprofitability, it seems that they are unfamiliar with anything related to route planning and money making:)

  6. Matt Guest

    Not sure how the connections would work, CAI is a complete mess. Getting to EgyptAir in the seasonal terminal was an absolute nightmare. If CAI is my destination then I might consider flying this, otherwise I'm out

    1. Behramjee Guest

      I dont agree with you at all as I flew last month from Douala to Toronto via Cairo on Egypt Air and the transit experience at Cairo airport was very smooth. I was in Terminal 2 for all my flights in both directions. I just flew back this week YYZ-CAI-DLA and the same smooth experience existed.

    2. Kirk Guest

      Same experience. I had a ticket for PEK-CAI-EWR about three weeks ago. The Beijing flight left 30 hours late, then the transit was a disaster. It's not just that they lost my bags, it's that during the last 16 days no one has answered the phone, responded to a voice mail, replied to an email, etc. I can't imagine flying EgyptAir again. I guess the upshot on this new flight is that with fewer stops, they're less likely to lose your bags.

  7. Brianair Guest

    And with that announcement LAX will join the 6 continent club again!

  8. Alfred Guest

    CAI-LAX in 2019 had 59,000 point to point passengers alone + MS will get a lot of connecting traffic bound to KWI, JED, RUH, DXB, DMM, IST, AMM, NBO, LOS, ABV and ACC with their predatory fare strategy in both J and Y cabins.

    The point to point demand is there for a 3 weekly service which shall be the case here. Yes the operating costs are high and yields not so great. But then again MS does not make net profits flying to any USA city and neither to YYZ/CAN/BKK !

  9. Jordan Diamond

    They use to fly from LAX-CAI via JFK for years. I believe it was discontinued after the Eqyptair crash out of JFK.

    The route was viable back in the day, so of course it will do well. LA is full of Arabs, thanks in part to QR, EK, Saudia, and Etihad. The community has greatly expanded along with tourism.

    The route will do well. It was a very important route for the airline in the past.

    Unfortunately today, there is very little historical reference in general.

  10. FNT Delta Diamond Guest

    Just remember, Egypt Air may be a dry airline but they'll pour any alcohol you bring with you on the plane.

  11. Leigh Diamond

    I actually think this route is viable with limited weekly frequencies. No other nonstop service from LAX to Africa, with LAX having very substantial ethnic communities not just from Egyptian heritage but also East Africa, in general.

    I understand the comments/questions about why fly MS when you can fly EK/QR, but folks those are different customers entirely than what MS will attract....gotta stretch the thinking beyond the typical OMAAT reader...that's business.

  12. Shahira mohyeldin Guest

    Positive sure it will sucseed, Egypt air flew to LAX on the 90th via JFK,&it was great.also Now it is a huge Egyptians &Arabs community even away more than before, It will succeed.

  13. Mark Guest

    I think MS is betting on Egyptians in the west coast, connections to their African points & codes sharing with UA. I thought that flying to Sydney was gonna be a better option
    Let's see the outcome

  14. Rufus Guest

    I couldn’t wait to see an African airline flying to Lax
    Right on Egypt airline

    I’m a Kenyan who’s live in Los Angeles

  15. Semperfix Guest

    I flew the LAX-JFK-CAI R/T once upon a time. On the return flight, there was not even one person per row on JFK-LAX.

  16. Rob Guest

    I flew Egypt Air business class once, never again. It’s a dry airline with terrible food and service!

  17. Maher Maurice Matta Guest

    It's v. Good news to fly from Cairo no stop. But we have see around the competition with most important the service and the prices. We all know egyptair is more expensive than the others and food quality is not so good.

  18. FVO Guest

    I think this flight would be successful especially when there are around 40,000 Egyptians live in CA, the majority of whom travel to Egypt almost every year, and there are other people who want to visit Egypt for tourism purposes.

  19. Mickey Guest

    I think it would be very successful cz it'd be the only flight to a destination in the west coast directly from Egypt

    1. ConcordeBoy Diamond

      That doesn't mean much of anything.

      The question is: will those people be willing to pay the yields sufficient to sustain this specific service...

      ...especially when the likes of Emirates/Qatar/Turkish are all there (sometimes more than daily) vastly superior hard+soft products, with quick connections.

  20. Hammer New Member

    Interesting, I would’ve expected Chicago before Los Angeles for more connections and shorter flight time but I guess it may be less prestigious to them.

    Speaking of Washington, did you miss that Kuwait Airways is supposed to start KWI-IAD flights this December?

    1. Peter Brown Guest

      Just as bad as Egyptair.

  21. ConcordeBoy Diamond

    They served LAX for a long time, so they aren't exactly unfamiliar with the market, but that was all 20yrs+ ago, and many things have changed.

    In fact, the infamous Egyptair 990, originated same-plane at LAX.

    Sadly, LAX hasn't had much luck retaining its African service/carriers, but it's nice seeing one back and attempting to try again.

  22. Icarus Guest

    The LA metro area has the second highest number of Egyptians after NY NJ, however statiscally it isn’t sufficient assuming they even visit Egypt. They currently have he option to fly via London, Paris, Frankfort or Rome with possibly a much better product. Dubai and Doha are somewhat out of the way. Maybe Saudia

  23. Guirguis Guest

    The greater Los Angeles area hosts the second largest Egyptian community in the United States (after New York) with approximately 30,000 Egyptians residing there. EgyptAir used to fly this route back in the 1990s from Cairo to Los Angeles with a stop in New York (for those passengers disembarking at JFK) on a Boeing 767.

    1. Mick Guest

      If every Egyptian flies 2x a year back home that still doesn’t add a huge load :(

  24. Mark Guest

    This flight is more for Egyptians living in the LA area rather than connecting passengers through CAI

  25. Too Many Guest

    Just hope they'll release business class award seats as that's a long flight in economy.

  26. James Guest

    This would be a resumption.

    Egypt Air previously served LA for decades. Route was dropped after 9/11.

  27. AJO Gold

    Don't forget that MSR has served LAX in the past, offering a 1-stop flight through JFK. Even flight 990 flew LAX-JFK before the FO committed suicide by crashing the plane.

  28. Scooter Guest

    Not that it matters to EgyptAir, but this would make LAX connected to all six inhabited continents

    1. Ben Schlappig OMAAT

      @ Scooter -- That's an EXCELLENT point. Let me add that to the post, thanks!

  29. tom Guest

    As a "dry" airline with mediocre service thy would need to undercut Emirates/ Qatar in pricing to secure connecting traffic. And, I don't recall CAI as being an airport that is particularly pleasant for transfers. However, for an Egypt vacation, this service would be great.

    1. Patti Guest

      Time, Emirates is so darned expensive right now, it shouldn't be hard to do.

      Of course, then you have mediocre service. I've flown them in business from JFK. Meh flight but emirates was out of sight.

      Cairo airport is a crap hole to transit. But if you are flying within Egypt, get used to it because it's pretty much the only hub.

      Oddly, their domestic flights aren't terrible.

  30. criced Guest

    Maybe cargo is the reason?

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Brianair Guest

And with that announcement LAX will join the 6 continent club again!

3
ConcordeBoy Diamond

They served LAX for a long time, so they aren't exactly unfamiliar with the market, but that was all 20yrs+ ago, and many things have changed. In fact, the infamous Egyptair 990, originated same-plane at LAX. Sadly, LAX hasn't had much luck retaining its African service/carriers, but it's nice seeing one back and attempting to try again.

3
Shahira mohyeldin Guest

Positive sure it will sucseed, Egypt air flew to LAX on the 90th via JFK,&it was great.also Now it is a huge Egyptians &Arabs community even away more than before, It will succeed.

2
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