New Egypt international airport to open in mid-July

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt will start operating its new Sphinx International Airport near the Giza pyramids by mid-July with the aim of easing pressure on Cairo’s main airport and boosting tourism, a cabinet statement said on Wednesday.

The airport near the new Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza on the outskirts of greater Cairo is part of plans to improve accessibility to historical sites for visitors, with links to popular Red Sea resorts like Sharm el Sheikh and Hurghada.

Tourism receipts, a major source of foreign currency for Egypt, jumped to $3.0 billion in the last three months of 2021 from $987 million a year earlier as travel recovered from the impact of COVID-19 restrictions.

(Reporting by Momen Said Atallah; Writing by Alaa Swilam; Editing by Philippa Fletcher and Mark Porter)