First of all, I apologize for the picture quality in this installment. I didn’t really feel comfortable taking pictures in Cairo Airport, so used my phone. Not only that, but I tried to make my “snaps” quick and subtle — so my apologies again.
Anyway…
My Qatar Airways flight was scheduled to departure Cairo at 1:15PM, so I decided to head to the airport at 10:30AM, which I realize was way early. From what I’ve heard the lounge in Cairo Airport is fascinating, so I didn’t want to miss out on any of the fun.
The hotel dropped me off at Terminal 1, which has a unique exterior design.
Cairo Airport Terminal 1 exterior
Cairo Airport Terminal 1 exterior
As is the case at many airports in the region, you need to show an e-ticket receipt in order to enter the terminal. Not only that, but each airline actually had a specific entrance.
I quickly found the Qatar check-in door, which was shared with Etihad and Delta.
Cairo Airport Terminal 1 signage
When I arrived at the door I showed the security officer my e-ticket, and he said “too soon, wait 30 minutes please.” I guess airlines typically only open check-in less than two hours before departure here.
A porter saw me and grabbed my bags, said a few words to the security officer, and then walked me straight through to check-in. Not only did he walk me through the entrance, but my bags weren’t even screened.
He gestured for me to sit down in a row of seats across from Qatar Airways’ check-in counter. I gave him a few bucks proactively (ultimately I was grateful not to have to stand in the heat for half an hour), and he seemed delighted by that (not that he shouldn’t be, but often the porters get greedy and ask for more).
Qatar Airways check-in opened at roughly 11:15AM, and I was fairly quickly checked in. There were no premium lines or anything, but rather just a handful of queues to individual agents without any sort of signage.
Something that was a bit odd by my standards was that the dude behind me in line didn’t actually stand behind me, but rather stood right next to me with his arm on the counter while my check-in was being processed. Like, he was standing so close to me that he was touching me. And the same was true for the guy behind him. So while I realize us Americans often take personal space to an extreme, this was the other extreme.
Cairo Airport Qatar Airways check-in
Cairo Airport arrivals board
With my boarding pass, departure card, and lounge invitation in hand I proceeded through the departures hall towards immigration. I passed the check-in desks from a few other airlines, including Emirates.
Cairo Airport Terminal 1 check-in hall
The queue for immigration took about 15 minutes, and while in line I filled out the departure form I was given at check-in, which I had to hand to the immigration agent.
There wasn’t really queuing for immigration, but rather everyone just pushing and shoving. I did what I could to hold my own, or I would have stood there all day.
Cairo Airport Terminal 1 check-in hall
I’m not sure what was most interesting right past immigration — the collection of odd furniture, or the fact that another immigration officer was checking everyone’s passports after immigration, which had a bit of a bottleneck effect.
Cairo Airport Terminal 1 airside
There was an information desk just behind immigration, so I asked them where the lounge was. They directed me up the escalator to the second level.
Cairo Airport Terminal 1 airside
Cairo Airport Terminal 1 airside
Cairo Airport Terminal 1 airside
Cairo Airport Terminal 1 airside
The architecture on the second level was certainly a bit nicer than on the first level. Most interesting had to be the coffee, which had signage from… EgyptAir?! Watch out, Starbucks!
Cairo Airport Terminal 1 airside
Cairo Airport Terminal 1 tarmac
Cairo Airport Terminal 1 tarmac
The lounge was actually on the third floor, so after arriving on the second floor I turned right, and then could either take the elevator or stairs up to the second level.
At the top of the stairs was a lady just sort of randomly sitting on a chair chatting with someone. I didn’t realize until I tried to walk past her that she was actually the lounge agent. She admitted me once I handed her my invitation.
Cairo Airport VIP Lounge stairs Terminal 1
Anyway, this is the contract lounge shared by a vast majority of airlines flying out of Terminal 1, and there are a couple other options if you have a credit card with lounge access. As far as I know the only airline with their own lounge is Air France. And hilariously this contract lounge is “themed.” This mega-lounge complex consists of the following themed areas:
- The American Lounge
- The English Lounge
- The Egyptian Lounge
- The Italian Lounge
Based on the pictures below, I’ll let you guys tell me which area belongs with which theme.
So immediately upon getting to the top of the stairs is the area of the lounge overlooking the concourse and tarmac. It featured what was quite possibly the nastiest green carpet I’ve ever seen.
Cairo Airport VIP Lounge Terminal 1
Cairo Airport VIP Lounge Terminal 1
I also don’t think I’ve ever seen so much mis-matched furniture in my life.
Cairo Airport VIP Lounge Terminal 1
Cairo Airport VIP Lounge Terminal 1
The food selection consisted of four types of bread.
Cairo Airport VIP Lounge food Terminal 1
And they even had hot food…
Cairo Airport VIP Lounge food Terminal 1
… or whatever you’d call that. It was even less appetizing looking than what was served in the GOL Smiles Lounge Sao Paulo Airport.
Cairo Airport VIP Lounge food Terminal 1
Then there was a small cooler with soda, and a microwave on top of that.
Cairo Airport VIP Lounge drinks & microwave Terminal 1
Then there was a rather random hallway which lead into another “themed” area of the lounge.
Cairo Airport VIP Lounge Terminal 1
Cairo Airport VIP Lounge Terminal 1
Cairo Airport VIP Lounge Terminal 1
This seemed to be the most popular area of the lounge, and was also the only part that didn’t look like a storage closet.
Cairo Airport VIP Lounge Terminal 1
Cairo Airport VIP Lounge Terminal 1
Cairo Airport VIP Lounge Terminal 1
Cairo Airport VIP Lounge Terminal 1
There was a modest buffet consisting of several types of bread, soda, juice, water, and several types of cake.
Cairo Airport VIP Lounge buffet Terminal 1
Cairo Airport VIP Lounge buffet Terminal 1
Cairo Airport VIP Lounge buffet Terminal 1
Cairo Airport VIP Lounge drinks Terminal 1
Cairo Airport VIP Lounge food Terminal 1
I’m not sure if this is somehow lost in translation for me or what, but one thing I found interesting is that no one took just one or two croissants. Instead, there wasn’t a single person that left the buffet with fewer than a handful of croissants, and in some cases a dozen croissants. Many of these people were traveling alone, and as I watched they didn’t actually eat all of them, but rather the croissants just sat on their plates. I haven’t seen that before anywhere else.
Anyway, at the buffet there was also a barista (or someone) on duty, who made me a cappuccino. It was served in an “EgyptAir In-Flight Services” cup.
Cairo Airport VIP Lounge cappuccino Terminal 1
The Wi-Fi in the lounge was slow and only borderline usable.
Since the lounge wasn’t all that exciting I headed to the gate at around 12:15PM, which was an hour before departure. I was departing from Gate 7, which was maybe a five minute walk away.
Security at Cairo Airport is at the individual gates, and to my surprise there wasn’t really much of a queue.
Cairo Airport Qatar Airways departure gate
My bags were quickly screened, and as soon I cleared security I realized I was missing a duty free bag. I didn’t actually have duty free items in it, but on my Etihad flight they gave me a duty free bag to store all my pajamas and amenity kits, since I had run out of room.
I told the security officer, and he told me “Asian man take.” I couldn’t find the guy in the gate area initially, though after looking around for a couple of minutes I found him. As it turned out, he just had a ton of duty free bags, and assumed mine was his as well.
Anyway, shortly after 12:30PM boarding began. There wasn’t even a boarding call, but rather they just started letting people on the buses. There was yet another passport check when entering the buses. It wasn’t the picture page of the passport they were interested in, but rather your Egyptian immigration arrival stamp. That seemed odd to me. I’m leaving the country, why are they looking for that now?
Cairo Airport Qatar Airways departure gate
Cairo Airport buses to remote stand
The ride to the tarmac featured some pretty interesting traffic, including a Saudi Arabian 747.
Being bussed to remote stand at Cairo Airport
Being bussed to remote stand at Cairo Airport
Saudi Arabian 747 Cairo Airport
After a maybe five minute ride we pulled up to our Qatar Airways A330, which would be taking us to Doha.
Qatar Airways A330 Cairo Airport
Qatar Airways A330 Cairo Airport
Boarding was through both the front and the rear of the aircraft, so the process seemed to be pretty efficient.
Qatar Airways A330 Cairo Airport
Qatar Airways A330 Cairo Airport
Cairo Airport VIP Lounge bottom line
I’ve been to some unique airports around the world, though this was certainly among the uniquest.
And while there are many lounges that I think are worth arriving early for, this isn’t one of them.
Have you ever transited Cairo Airport, and if so, how was your experience?
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