FlyEgypt, a Cairo-based Egyptian low-cost and charter operator has ceased operations and has subsequently canceled all future services with immediate effect. The operator, which operated a sole Boeing 737-800, had attempted to file for bankruptcy but has since seen its plans for liquidation halted by Egyptian aviation authorities.
The carrier, which was formed in 2014, had operated up to nine aircraft at the peak of its success but has since fallen on harder times, running up huge debts in the process. On October 21, 2024, the airline announced that it intended to file for bankruptcy without delay and canceled all planned future flights from Cairo International Airport (CAI) and Sharm El Sheikh International Airport (SSH).
However, rather than the airline simply declaring itself bankrupt and quietly liquidating its assets and closing, the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority (ECAA) has halted this process, ordering the carrier to settle all outstanding debts owed to creditors before it can do so. The ECAA turned down the company’s request stating that it wished to surrender its operating license and to remove its one remaining aircraft from the national register.
The airline’s leading creditors are believed to be Italian and German tour operators, as well as local Egyptian partners. Local creditors are reported to include Egypt’s National Air Navigation Services Company, several of the country’s airports, and a social security fund maintained on behalf of its employees. The total amount owed to creditors has not been disclosed by either side at the time of writing.
The move by the ECAA has led to a legal deadlock between the two concerned parties, with lawyers on both sides now caught up in trying to resolve the matter. The ECAA argues that a full strategy for repaying all outstanding debts must be filed by the carrier before the regulator will consider any bankruptcy filing.
At the time of stopping all flights, flyEgypt operated just one Boeing 737-800 leased from AerCap. Registered as SU-TMN, this aircraft joined the carrier’s fleet in September 2021 and is 17.45 years old by Ch-aviation. The lease on this aircraft was due to expire in September 2027. Its last flight for the carrier, according to data from Flightradar24 was from Jeddah to Cairo on September 20, 2024, since which it has been undergoing maintenance at Cairo International Airport. .
flyEgypt commenced operations in February 2015 flying between Cairo and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. The carrier operated both scheduled low-cost flights alongside charter services bringing overseas tourists to the Egyptian Red Sea holiday resorts of Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada. Countries served included several in Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia. According to Ch-aviation, the airline operated 21 routes to 19 destinations across ten countries.
The market in which flyEgypt operated has seen a plethora of carriers come and go over the last two decades. However, with other homegrown airlines still active in the market, any void created by the demise of flyEgypt is likely to be quickly filled by other carriers. In the meantime, it remains unclear as to how the legal impasse between the carrier and the ECAA will be resolved, given that the airline has seemingly run out of funds and can no longer operate.