(Yicai) May 28 -- Egyptair plans to add new flights to China, including between Cairo and Hong Kong and Cairo and Xiamen, after Egypt's flag carrier and Africa's first airline recovered its capacity to the Chinese market to the level before 2019.

China is among Egyptair's top three markets worldwide, Amr Adawy, vice president commercial of the airline, said yesterday at the three-day 2024 ITB China that kicked off on the same day in Shanghai.

Set up in 1932, Egyptair entered the Chinese market in 2003, operating flights between Cairo and Beijing before launching routes to Guangzhou in 2009 and Hangzhou in 2019. It completed its first non-stop passenger flight between Cairo and Shanghai last November.

Egyptair has 16 flights to China a week, including seven to Guangzhou and three each to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou. From July 14, it will operate a fourth Cairo-Shanghai flight, while more to Beijing will likely be announced soon.

In addition, Cairo Airport Company and Shanghai International Airport inked a deal at ITB China, with the pair to ally on food, duty-free stores, and other areas in the future.

Since the debut of the Cairo-Shanghai route, Egypt has had a growing number of visitors, said Magdy Ishak, chairman of Cairo Airport. The company has provided travelers with more sleeping cabins, food and beverage areas, and duty-free stores to raise the airport's income, he added.

Editor: Maritn Kadiev