EgyptAir To Grow Fleet To 125

Egypt has unveiled plans to grow EgyptAir‘s fleet flag carrier to 125 aircraft by the end of the 2020s.

The Egyptian government says that an increase in the fleet will be essential to continuing to grow the airline, economy, and other factors in the future.

Data indicates that EgyptAir only currently has 65 active aircraft, with five units listed as parked. Furthermore, the fleet’s total average age is 10.3 years.

The fleet includes commitments to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Airbus A320neo and A321neo. These aircraft types are a key building block for the next generation of aircraft that will aid the company in the future.

In addition to the currently in-service aircraft, Egypt Air has ordered the Airbus A350 and announced plans to begin leasing 737 MAX jets.

Some older-gen types present include 737NGs, the Airbus A330 and the Boeing 777. While these aircraft types, excluding the A330, aren’t showing too strong signs of age in the future, they will, and EgyptAir wants to be well-positioned to phase these out for the continued modernisation of its operations.

To achieve the ambition of 125 aircraft by the beginning of 2030, the hope is to increase the number of aircraft present to 97 by 2027, with the remaining units to be added in the following three years until the end of the decade.

Another government focus is to increase cargo capacity through the increase of available aircraft in the freight division.

To meet the fleet increases, Egypt believes it’ll be able to increase overall annual traffic through passenger airports to upwards of 100 million. Currently, this figure is at 66 million, but the government’s logic suggests that further growth will be attainable with time.

EgyptAir isn’t the only company looking to achieve fleet expansion and growth in the future. Etihad Airways and Turkish Airlines are among the many that chart a similar course.

However, these carriers must remain wary of available delivery slots and face more challenges in securing aircraft sooner rather than later before available slots sell out further.

If this were the case and there were continued complexities in the leasing market, these airlines may be short on capacity as others advance.