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Gulf Air and Egypt Air
are to form a new strategic alliance. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was
signed in Beirut during the recent Executive Meeting of Arab Carriers, by James Hogan, President and Chief Executive of Gulf Air
and General Atef Abdulhamid Mustapha, President of Egypt Air.
Under the terms of the agreement, the two carriers will cooperate to provide more convenient air travel services in the Middle East,
as well as greater connectivity to destinations around the world. Areas of cooperation will include jointly operated services,
marketing and sales, flight scheduling, cargo, technical services in foreign stations, the leasing of aircraft and frequent flyer
services.
In the first phase of this cooperation, code-share flights will commence between Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and Oman and Cairo and
Alexandria. It will also include jointly operated services to leading tourist destinations in Egypt such as Sham-El-Sheikh and
Hurgada. With the commencement of the winter schedule this will be extended to flights further afield, including
Cairo-Bahrain-Sydney.
The agreement will allow travelers holding tickets of either airline to travel on the flights of the other carrier and will facilitate an
increased frequency and service offering for businessmen and the general public to rival anything else in the region.
The two sides also agreed to link the other operating points with the two carriers’ networks in Asia, Africa and Europe either
through joint services as with the previously mentioned destinations or by direct coordination of the flight schedules of the two
airlines’ allowing for convenient and easy connections between the two carriers.
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