This second part will cover my trip from Cairo to Hurghada on Egyptair and will include lots of pix of the world class resort city of Hurghada and of the red sea resort where we stayed .
I was very happy to fly my favourite Airline ....
...To my favourite resort city
I planned for the CAI-HRG trip while i was in Canada . I was lucky enough that Egyptair launched their online booking system in February 2007 , i was probably one of their first customers to book online . The online booking experience with Egyptair was very enjoyable .
Egyptair new website
The fares vary a lot not only from day to day but from flight to flight ( the day I will be flying had 3 flights between CAI and HRG and the fares vary from US$59.00 to US$86.00(round trip) of course I opted for the lower fare which happened to be the most suitable to me ( it was the early flight from CAI dep 6:15 and the return was the 10:50 flight from HRG )
I also booked the seat I wanted . The booking system offers many ways to deliver the ticket :
1/ You can pay online and the ticket will be delivered to you by express mail ( only to addresses in Egypt for now ) .
2/ You can pay online and pick up the ticket yourself from any Egyptair office ( only in Egypt for now ) .
3/ if you choose not to pay online , you still can book your tickets online and go to any Egyptair office within 2 days to pay for your tickets and pick them up .
4/ And the most convenient way is the E.Tickets ( which I opted for ) .
Egyptair offers the online booking only if your flight is leaving from an Egyptian Airport for now , but it would be possible to book for any flights system wide in the future .
Seconds after I finished the online booking , I received an e.mail from Egyptair with the itinerary and the reference number . Just to be in the safe side , and because the online booking was something new to MS , I decided to send their call centre an e.mail to make sure everything went fine .
3 hours latter , I got another e.mail with the E.Ticket .
The following day I got a response to my first e.mail from the call centre saying that everything was fine and the tickets are confirmed . But when I went through the E.Ticket , I noticed that the seat I requested was not there , so I sent them another e.mail and only few minutes latter I got a response from their call centre confirming the seat I requested .
All in all , an excellent experience , excellent , prompt and efficient customer service . The online booking system is very reliable , quick and efficient .
Egyptair has celebrated its 75th anniversary in May/2007 . The Airline was the 7th Airline in the world . In a move of appreciation to its customers , Egyptair offered a 50% discount on all tickets ( except for JED and MED ) sold between May 4th and May 8th , a very nice touch if you ask me .
Happy 75th anniversary Egyptair                        Â
The A/C was supposed to be an A320 , but few days latter , it was upgraded to an A321 , then almost 1 week prior to departure date , another upgrade to an A330 . I got the impression that the flight would be full .
Finally , the big day came and I woke up early to go to the airport , I was there at Terminal 1 hall 2 at about 5:00 am for the 6:15 flight .
In Egypt , before you even enter the airport building you have to screen your luggage and hand bags . They also check your ticket and let you go through a metal detector .
The domestic hall at CAI is clean but gets congested when there are more than 3 flights departing at the same time , that morning there were morning flights to Hurghada , Sharm El sheikh , luxor and Aswan .
There wasn't any line-up at the check-in counter which made me wonder how full is the flight . The agent was very nice and chatty and gave me the boarding pass while wishing me a pleasant flight and a nice vacation  .
Then I proceeded to the gate where you go through another metal detector and hand bag screening . To my surprise the waiting area at the gate was almost empty .
CAIRO (CAI) - HURGHADA (HRG) ON EGYPTAIR
Carrier : Egyptair ( MS )
Flight number : MS159
Equipment ; A330/200
Route : CAI-HRG
Load factor : 40%
Departure : 6:15 ( actual 6:10 )
Departure runway : 23R
Flight duration : 50 minutes
Arrival : 7:05 ( 10 minutes early )
We were bussed to the Aircraft where it stood among the Heavies ( A330'S,B777'S AND A340's ) near runway 23R .
Upon getting off the bus , I approached somebody on the ground and asked if it is ok to take pics , he politely replied : No problems at all .
After getting of the bus ( sorry for the blurriness )
Boarding , I used the flash by mistake , so the background wasn't clear
The A330 is about 1 year new , the plane was spotless with an excellent seat pitch . The seats were very soft and comfy with foot rests . It also has nose wheel and belly cameras . Unlike Alitalia , this time the ashtrays in the armrests were clean .
My first impression of the A330 cabin
A B777 parked in the ( Heavies ) parking lot Â
We were greeted on board by 2 very nice and friendly male F/A's . The F/A's were mainly males on this flight .
Before Pushback , the captain came on the PA to welcome us and wish us a nice flight with MS .
We started push back 5 minutes early , then we taxied to runway 23R . The airport movement was very quiet that morning . The nose wheel camera was on during taxiing .
Taxiing to Runway 23R
Then we turned into the runway and suddenly the RR engines started roaring and we had a rolling , smooth yet powerful take off .
Take off
Then we , immediately , made a 90 degrees right turn heading east .
CAI Airport and Runway 23L
The vicinity of Cairo Airport
Excellent seat pitch on Egyptair A330 , with foot rests
10 minutes into the flight , a snack/breakfast was served . It has a fresh sweet vanilla cake slice , an apple juice and your choice of tea or coffee
Nice reflection of the morning sun on the engine
The A330 winglet
Horus logo on a RR engine
15 minutes latter , the captain announced that we are starting our descent into HRG . And i will let you enjoy the stunning pics of Hurghada's beautiful resorts..
We didn't fly over the red sea , so i couldn't take any pics of it , but in the next report ( Part 3 ) , I will post lots of pics of the red sea and its beautiful colors .
We made a sharp left turn and started our approach
Seconds before landing
During the landing, the belly camera was on .
Touch down
We had one of the best touchdowns ( as if we landed over a velvet carpet ) : Good job captain .
Thrust reverser
Nose wheel camera
HRG ATC
As we arrived to our stand , an Air Cairo was parked next to us
Our flight was the only flight at that time so the airport was empty and in 15 minutes we got out luggage and headed to the city .
We took a cab to the resort where we had an enjoyable week .
Hurghada , as a city , has changed a lot in the last 15 years . The last time i visited the city was 16 years ago when it was just a small fishing village with about 3-4 beach resorts and the rest was desert .
Back then , there was the highway that connects Cairo to Hurghada with some resorts on the seaside and the desert on the other side .
Now the city is full of beach resorts on the seaside , shopping centres, malls and restaurants on the other side . The city has been transformed to a world class resort city .
Our resort was almost full . Guests were about 97% Germans , the rest were French,Egyptians,Russians,Dutch,Czech and Australians .
People enjoying a camel ride on the beach while some (heavy weights) enjoying the sea
This lady has managed to appear on my pics on the beach and in the pool area
The pool
2 Florida drinks on the pool
A view from the beach area to the entrance of the residential part of the resort
The newly built multilevel rooms
The original one level room complex ( the rooms are hidden on both sides of the walkway under this lush green )
Our room
The indoor restaurant
The outdoor restaurant
The cafeteria area just outside the main lobby
They had this huge cage ( about 100 sq.meters and 8 meters high ) with all kinds of birds,parrots,rabbits and geese
I went inside many times , fascinating..
Hurghada at night
I hope i gave you a little idea about Egyptair and the world class resort city of Hurghada , in part 3 of this report , i will post stunning pictures of the colors of the red sea during our flight back from HRG to CAI on Egyptair as well .
I hope you enjoyed the report and all comments are more than welcomed Â
Sketty222 From United Kingdom (England), joined Mar 2006, 1172 posts, RR: 1 Reply 1, posted (1 year 6 months 2 weeks 3 days 21 hours ago) and read 5983 times:
Nice report and pics.
An old colleague of mine was egyptian and used to harp on about Hurghada before anyone in the UK had ever heard about it. I used to just acknowledge him in how nice some of the resorts on his red sea coast were but after looking on the internet and the arrival pics that you have taken, it looks very very nice
MSYYZ From Canada, joined Oct 2005, 723 posts, RR: 9 Reply 3, posted (1 year 6 months 2 weeks 3 days 7 hours ago) and read 5511 times:
Quoting Sketty222 (Reply 1): Nice report and pics.
An old colleague of mine was egyptian and used to harp on about Hurghada before anyone in the UK had ever heard about it. I used to just acknowledge him in how nice some of the resorts on his red sea coast were but after looking on the internet and the arrival pics that you have taken, it looks very very nice
Thanks for reading the T/R , Hurghada has dramatically changes in the last decade or so . I had a chat with some of the employess at the resort and they were telling me the sq. meter in Hurghada used to be sold in the 80's for just a few Egyptian pounds , nowadays it will cost you thousands of Pounds to get just 1 sq. meter . And yes , Hurghada is a world class resort city .
Quoting 767747 (Reply 2): Great report and pictures!! Looking forward to Part 3.
Thank you 767747 , Part 3 is coming soon and will have stunning pictures of the colors of the red sea .
BA319-131 From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2001, 5086 posts, RR: 30 Reply 4, posted (1 year 6 months 2 weeks 3 days 1 hour ago) and read 5272 times:
Great report & photies, especially of the resort, looks very nice there, many thanks.
Quoting MSYYZ (Thread starter): The A/C was supposed to be an A320 , but few days latter , it was upgraded to an A321 , then almost 1 week prior to departure date , another upgrade to an A330 . I got the impression that the flight would be full .
- Wow, never had aircraft changes like this, amazing!
Quoting MSYYZ (Thread starter): After getting of the bus ( sorry for the blurriness )
Semsem From Israel, joined Jul 2005, 1459 posts, RR: 1 Reply 5, posted (1 year 6 months 2 weeks 3 days ago) and read 5251 times:
What hotel did you stay at. Interesting to see the topless lady in one of the pictures. It is interesting that it is not prohibited. Thanks for the nice pictures.
MSYYZ From Canada, joined Oct 2005, 723 posts, RR: 9 Reply 6, posted (1 year 6 months 2 weeks 2 days 5 hours ago) and read 5007 times:
Quoting BA319-131 (Reply 4): Great report & photies, especially of the resort, looks very nice there, many thanks.
Glad you liked it
Quoting BA319-131 (Reply 4): Wow, never had aircraft changes like this, amazing!
This was very common on Egyptair domestic flights up until now . With the launch of Egyptair Express , the new subsidiary of Egyptair with its 6 E-Jets (170) + 6 options , it will compliment MS domestic network with more frequent flights using smaller planes . That will translate into more convenient schedules for passengers instead of the currently very early morning or very late night domestic flights . It will also give MS a room to use their medium to long haul A/C more efficiently .
Me too , i had to laugh when i reviewed the pic on my camera , but it was too late to take another pic , so i had to include it with my apology to your eyes
Actually , there were quite a few of topless ladies on the beach and in the pool area . There were signs everywhere asking to wear properly but some ladies insisted on showing their Breasts .
Is it good or bad ? Well it depends on how good or bad the breats look
TurkishWings From Turkey, joined May 2006, 931 posts, RR: 5 Reply 8, posted (1 year 6 months 2 weeks 1 day 5 hours ago) and read 4631 times:
Great report... A few quick questions:
1: I have only been to SSH. I didn't like the city but LOVED the sea. Snorkeling was the best I have ever experienced. How is the marine life in HRG? How is HRG compared to SSH in touristic terms?
2: How much does the taxi cost from the airport to the city?
Quoting TurkishWings (Reply 8): 1: I have only been to SSH. I didn't like the city but LOVED the sea. Snorkeling was the best I have ever experienced. How is the marine life in HRG? How is HRG compared to SSH in touristic terms?
Marine life in HRG is very similar to SSH ( after all they share the same sea ) . Snorkeling , glass boats , submarines , fishing trips , surfing and diving are all available . The city itself is very lively , it used to be a small fishing village with scattered beach resorts in the past , but now it is a real world class resort city ( with people permanently living in ) . Now it is full of shopping centers , restaurants , coffee shops , malls , jewellery stores , pharmacies , brand name clothing stores , super markets . To be honest , i was shocked when i returned to the city after 16 years .
To give you an idea how HRG has changed , here is a pic of our resort when it was being built in 1985 ..
Note that this desert around the resort is now either beach resorts or malls and shops and restaurants .
Quoting TurkishWings (Reply 8): 2: How much does the taxi cost from the airport to the city?
From the Airport to the resort , I was asked to pay $10 , while from the resort to the Airport , I paid $4 .
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