Air Cairo

Is Air Cairo safe?

Yes, by the measure that matters most: Air Cairo has not had a fatal accident or lost an aircraft since it started flying in 2003. It is IOSA-registeredIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary as an IATA member, Egypt holds the FAA's top rating, and about 70% of its fleet is A320neos, current-model ATR 72-600 turboprops or E190s delivered new in 2022. We score it 81, well above its parent EgyptAir (70), whose record carries the 2016 loss of MS804. The catch is a run of incidents in the last three years, including a runway excursionRunway excursionWhen an aircraft leaves the runway surface during take-off or landing, either off the end (an overrun) or off the side (a veer-off).More in the glossary in Germany and two flights that lost cabin pressure.

Most passengers meet Air Cairo on a holiday flight. Much of its flying links German airports such as Hanover, Cologne/Bonn, Nuremberg and Stuttgart with Hurghada, Marsa Alam and Sharm el-Sheikh. It also runs scheduled flights from Cairo and Alexandria to Saudi Arabia, the Gulf and Jordan, and calls itself a hybrid airline.

Has Air Cairo had any accidents?

None that cost a life or an aircraft. The Aviation Safety Network has no accident record for Air Cairo at all, across 23 years. That is a real achievement, but keep the scale in mind: five years ago Air Cairo flew only seven aircraft, so its clean record covers far fewer flights than the record of Air Arabia, which also began in 2003. We give it 92 for accidents, close to other mid-sized airlines with no losses.

The closest call was at Hanover in the early hours of 14 October 2023. An A320neo from Hurghada, with 181 people on board, landed on runway 27L as a thunderstorm moved over the airport. Germany's accident board, the BFU, rated it a serious incident. According to its preliminary report, heavy rain hit in the flare, the wipers could not clear the windscreen, and the captain said he may have taken the runway edge lights for the centre line. The left main gear touched down on the grass, up to 33 metres from the centre line, before the captain steered back onto the runway. Nobody was hurt, but the aircraft stayed in Hanover for 11 days. The final report was not yet published when we checked.

The cabin-pressure incidents

Two flights in six months lost cabin pressure, and both followed the same pattern. On 27 July 2025 an A320 from Cairo to Sharjah left with one engine's bleed air system inoperative, which the rules allow under the minimum equipment list. At 33,000 feet the other engine's bleed system failed too. The crew put on oxygen masks, made an emergency descent and returned to Cairo.

On 15 January 2026 another A320, bound for Gassim in Saudi Arabia, left Cairo with its auxiliary power unit inoperative. Climbing through about 27,000 feet, the cabin altitude rose past 11,000 feet. The crew declared a Mayday and descended, and on the way back one of the two generators had to be switched off. The aircraft landed safely.

Both flights were legal to dispatch, and both crews handled the failures well. But in each case a second failure removed the last backup, which is exactly what the minimum equipment list is meant to make unlikely. Two such events in half a year on the older A320ceos are why we score incidents at 66. Earlier, in September 2021, an A320 flying holidaymakers to Düsseldorf shut down an engine and diverted to Zagreb.

Who checks Air Cairo?

The Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority certifies it. The FAA rates Egypt Category 1FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary, meaning its regulator meets ICAO standards, and no Egyptian airline is on the EU Air Safety ListEU Air Safety ListThe European Commission's list of airlines banned or restricted from flying in EU airspace because they do not meet international safety standards.More in the glossary of June 2026. Air Cairo is an IATA member, which requires the IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit every two years, an outside check that does not depend on the national regulator. The weak point is the same as for EgyptAir: Egypt's investigators publish few reports, and they took eight years over MS804. Most of what we know about Air Cairo's incidents comes from Germany's BFU and the Aviation Herald, not from Cairo. We score oversight at 76, the same as EgyptAir.

Germany once kept Air Cairo out for a month. From 3 December 2018 the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt withdrew the landing rights of Air Cairo and Fly Egypt, reportedly because they had loaded catering in Egypt on German flights, which a rule made after the 2015 bombing of a Metrojet flight over Sinai forbids (aeroTELEGRAPH). Air Cairo flew to Germany again from early January 2019. That was the enforcement of a security rule, not a finding about how Air Cairo flies its aircraft, so it does not change the score.

How old are Air Cairo's planes?

Mostly new. In September 2026 independent fleet data showed 41 aircraft: 20 A320neos, 12 A320ceos, six ATR 72-600 turboprops and three Embraer E190s. The E190s, delivered in December 2022, were the last three of the first-generation E190 that Embraer built. Air Cairo says it has more than 45 aircraft, but its own fleet list and outside data show fewer. All its Airbus jets are leased. In September 2026 it placed its first direct order with Airbus, for 15 A320neos, and it aims for more than 130 aircraft by 2034. Growth at that pace needs pilots and engineers, which is worth watching.

Before you fly

If you booked a package holiday to the Red Sea, check the airline on your ticket: tour operators use several airlines on the same routes, and Air Cairo flights carry SM flight numbers. For flights to Saudi Arabia, the Gulf or Jordan, choose a fare you can change, since regional airspace closed at short notice during the 2026 war. On the shorter domestic and regional routes, you may fly on an ATR or an E190 rather than an A320.

How we scored it

The accident record (92) is the strongest factor: no deaths and no lost aircraft in 23 years. The fleet (80) is mostly A320neos and new regional aircraft. Oversight (76) gives credit for IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary, FAA Category 1FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary and no EU ban, less a few points for Egypt's thin reporting. Incidents (66) are the weakest factor, after the Hanover excursion and two decompressions. The environment scores 68. Overall 81.