EgyptAir is the national airline of Egypt and is owned by the Egyptian government.
The airline uses the IATA designator MS.
Founded in 1932, it operates a fleet of 32 passenger and 2 cargo planes (as of 2003) of Airbus and Boeing makes, over Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. Based in Cairo, it was the first airline in the Middle East to operate jet liners. It employs about 22,000 people and claimed total worldwide revenues in fiscal 2000 of US $1,000 M, with profits of US $35 M.
Together with its wholly-owned subsidiary Sinai Air, its safety record rates an “F’, the worst grade possible, according to Air Rankings Online.
Notable fatal events include:
- 23 November 1985. Egyptair Flight 648. A Boeing 737 aircraft was hijacked to Valletta, Malta by three men, including Abu Nidal and Omar Rezaq. After several hours of negotiations, Egyptian troops stormed the aircraft and battled with the hijackers, who threw several hand grenades and shot five Israeli and American passengers in the head. The aircraft was severely damaged by the explosions and fire. Two of the six crew members and 58 of the 90 passengers were killed.
- 31 October 1999, the crash of EgyptAir Flight 990. It was a Boeing 767 that was flying between John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City and Cairo which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off of Nantucket. The pilot, Gameel Al-Batouti, was suspected by U.S. authorites of intentionally crashing the plane.
