With Air Sphinx, the Egyptair Group wants to launch a new low-cost and charter airline that will operate from Sphinx International Airport. However, the company is not “new” at all, because it is the “phantom airline” Air Sinai, which has been given a new name.

Air Sinai is a subsidiary of Egyptair, which didn't even exist for many years if anyone asked about it. The carrier was founded in 1982 to operate non-stop flights between Cairo and Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion. For many years, the business model seemed downright strange, because tickets could only be bought in a complicated way for cash and the flights were not listed at Cairo Airport (International). Not even at the gate were there any indications of the forthcoming Tel Aviv flight, so you had to know where to get on.

Officially, Egyptair didn't want to know anything about this subsidiary if someone just asked about it. Internally they knew exactly what Air Sinai's purpose was and that there were the Tel Aviv flights they were trying to keep "secret". A few days ago, the diplomatic climate between Egypt and Israel melted. There is now a regular aviation agreement and Egyptair, for example, flies officially to Tel Aviv. So the “phantom airline” Air Sinai no longer needed it.

"Phantomairline" becomes a low-cost airline

The carrier, which officially did not exist for many years, has been bobbing along for several years. It stays in the air with occasional charter flights and ACMI services for Egyptair. Egyptian Aviation Minister Muhammad Manar announced that Air Sphinx would establish a base at Sphinx International Airport. Domestic flights will be operated from there. The “new airline” is also to become active from Hurghada, Sharm El Sheik and Luxor. They want to offer cheap flights to Europe and the Middle East in order to boost tourism. But what the government member did not say: Egyptair's supposed "new subsidiary" has existed since 1982 and is Air Sinai, which has just been given the name Air Sphinx.

The first Air Sphinx flights are scheduled to take place in the 2022/2023 winter flight schedule. Minister Manar emphasizes that the fleet is to be expanded to 18 aircraft within a year. Initially, Boeing 737s will take off. “The service on the plane will be on demand, you can get what you want but only after paying the cost; the tickets can be with or without luggage; the planes will fly from tourist destinations to other countries and operate on domestic flights at reduced prices; for example, a ticket Cairo-Hurghada on a regular flight costs 2400 EGP, but on a low-cost flight it will cost no more than 1500-1600 EGP,” the government member said. Actually, they wanted to be in the air as Air Sphinx since April 2022, but the project was postponed by a few months.

The change of the company name has already been officially completed in the Egyptian company register. This has also already been reported to the ICAO. A recent publication by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) shows that the three-letter code ASD will be retained. The callsign, on the other hand, changes from "Air Sinai" to "Air Sphinx". The two-letter code 4D also remains the same. In the near future they will start selling tickets via their own website and the sales channels of the parent company Egyptair.