Egyptair Doubles Down On China Growth With Plans To Add More Flights To Shanghai & Beijing

When it comes to China, Egyptair has big ambitions. The airline revealed its growth plans during the ITB China 2024 travel trade show in Shanghai last week. In addition to increased frequencies on existing services, a new route to Xiamen (XMN) is rumored to be among the expansion plans, as reported by China Daily.

Photo: Eliyahu Yosef Parypa | Shutterstock 

At the end of last year, Egyptair launched direct flights three times per week to Shanghai (PVG), marking its fourth destination in China. In a sign of the route’s commercial success, its frequency is set to increase to four weekly from July 14th. The airline also serves Beijing (PEK), Hangzhou (HGH), and Guangzhou (CAN) from its hub at Cairo International Airport (CAI), with the Beijing route also expected to benefit from frequency increases.

All eyes on China

Egyptair is striving to increase connectivity between the two countries, promote business and cultural exchanges, and attract more Chinese tourists to Egypt. Highlighting the importance of the Chinese market for Egyptair, the carrier’s Vice President of Commercial, Amr Adawy, said,

“China is a top priority for EgyptAir due to its vast population and significant passenger volume. We aim to expand our destinations in China to foster greater cooperation and cultural exchanges between the two countries.”

To support cultural exchange between the two countries, Egyptair has partnered with the Shanghai Museum to curate an exhibit throughout summer 2025 showcasing the rich cultural heritage of Ancient Egypt. It is hoped that this, in addition to exclusive discounts, will also continue to drive growth in tourism from China.

Egyptair in China

Egyptair currently operates 18 flights per week to four destinations across China, deploying its fleet of Boeing 777-300ERs and 787-9s on the routes. Data from ch-aviation shows that the airline has six 777-300ERs and seven 787-9s in its fleet, with an average age of 13.7 and 4.4 years old, respectively.

Photo: Vytautas Kielaitis | Shutterstock

As well as capitalizing on point-to-point traffic between the two countries, Egyptair offers travelers from China connections to an extensive route network throughout Africa. The other airlines currently flying between Cairo and China are:

• China Eastern Airlines – Shanghai (PVG)
• Sichuan Airlines – Beijing (PEK) and Chengdu (TFU).

Continued growth for the Egyptian flag carrier

Egyptair’s upcoming growth in China comes fresh on the back of further international expansion from the Star Alliance member airline. As well as launching flights to Shanghai last year, Egyptair also expanded its route network by commencing service to Delhi (DEL), Dhaka (DAC), Newark (EWR), and Manchester (MAN).

Photo: Airbus

Egyptair has successfully rebounded from the pandemic, aided by significant increases in passenger numbers throughout Egypt. In 2023, Egyptian airports processed more than 47 million passengers – a 30% increase on the previous year.

What do you think of Egyptair’s planned expansion in China? Have you flown on the carrier between Cairo and its existing Chinese destinations? Share your thoughts and experiences by commenting below.