Sphinx International Airport (SPX) received on 16 June 2023 its first Wizz Air flight from Milan’s Malpensa Airport, carrying 247 passengers.
On hand to receive the flight was Ghada Shalaby, deputy to Minister of Tourism, Ahmed Eissa, and Michele Quaroni, Italy’s Ambassador to Cairo; also executive-manager of WIZZ Air Hungary Ltd., Robert Etienne, as well as a number of officials of SPX and Newstar Aviation Services Group, agent of Wizz Air in Egypt.
Ms Shalaby spoke of the importance of the SPX which serves a distinguished tourist and archaeological area owing to its location near the Giza Pyramids and the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) which is expected to open in a grand ceremony next November.
Executive-manager of Wizz Air noted that the company is operating domestic flights (some 38 weekly) depart from the airport to Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada, Marsa Alam, Borg al-Arab in Alexandria, and Sohag,
Sphinx International Airport (SPX) was officially launched in November 2022.
Earlier, however, in October 2017, it was announced that the airport would be opened to commercial flights in summer 2018 and was set to start experimental operations in October 2018.
In January 2019 EgyptAir Express launched test flights to Hurghada, Sharm al-Sheikh, Luxor and Aswan.
On 1 January 2020, the airport received its first international flight from Jordan, operated by Fly Jordan. On 2 November 2022, scheduled flights from Sharm al-Sheikh to Sphinx airport started. The airport is now operational.
SPX is located on the desert road between Cairo and Alexandria, 45km from the Pyramids of Giza. With a surface area of 4,000 sq.m for its main building (24,000 sq.m for the whole building), it is mainly dedicated to tourism, being able to service some 900 passengers per hour.
More than six airlines have been using Sphinx Airport since its opening: Wizz Air, Condor, Nesma Airlines, and Air Cairo in addition to EgyptAir.
Watani International
19 June 2023