Other Middle East and Africa Frequent Flyer Programs - Cairo's new T3 set to open tommorrow

Just read in the newspaper today that the new Terminal 3 in Cairo Airport will be opened tomorrow. Its about time...

Any reviews/photos from anyone who goes through there will be highly appreciated :)

Just read in the newspaper today that the new Terminal 3 in Cairo Airport will be opened tomorrow. Its about time...

Any reviews/photos from anyone who goes through there will be highly appreciated :) are you quite sure it opens tomorrow ?

http://www.businesstodayegypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=8261

dated 06/12/2008 says

December 2008
And Then There Were Three
When Cairo International’s Terminal 3 opens next month,

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/United-Airlines-EGYPTAIR-Announce-Codeshare/story.aspx?guid=%7B7FAE01FD-4548-4AFB-8A6F-D5527A69AF75%7D also dated December says

With the inauguration of Terminal 3 at Cairo Airport early next year, Star Alliance carriers will execute the move under one roof concept in one of the most modern airports in the region."

On Friday's Al Ahram front page, there was a picture of the president touring T3. Haven't had time to read the details though. Will do so and report what actually happened.
AFAIK-the first flight to move will be the JFK, followed by domestics, followed by international flights.

I'm in Cairo now. And I arrived from Tokyo at the old Terminal 1 last night. I did ask about the new terminal and was told that yes it's open.. BUT flights will be slowly transferred as of 2 months from now.

From what I experienced with the luggage handlers last night, having a brand new terminal isn't going to improve Egyptair or any other airline partners using it if the basic infrastructure fails at the very base of it all.

What did they do? I'll save the juicy bits of Egyptair in my trip report eventually , but last night after we landed and had cleared immigration, about half of the luggage still had not come out. A quick glance around the conveyor belt revealed that it was mostly the people with Priority * Alliance labels on. The F, C and Elite customers. After much shouting and commotion by airline personnel, it was discovered that the baggage handlers had emptied their baggage containers as fast as they could so that they could all go see their favourite football heroes (who happened to be on my flight) who were giving a status report at the domestic terminal (they were whisked away by a special convoy while us regular F and J passengers were herded like cattle into cramped buses) ..... The baggage handlers however, forgot two containers with the all PRIORITY luggage in it, that still needed offloading !

Crap! Well although CAI (possibly) will have the infrastructure to be a *A hub, ground works needs to improve. Applying bureaucratic methods isn't going to help the situation either. Am flying out in two days' time and will also see what the deal with T3 is.
AFAIK-Al Ahly team was in Tokyo and had recently lost the match anyway. Dunno why they were so excited....
Meanwhile looking forward to the TR.

..
AFAIK-Al Ahly team was in Tokyo and had recently lost the match anyway. Dunno why they were so excited....
Meanwhile looking forward to the TR.

No, apparently they won. That was why all the hoop-la on the tarmac, and there was some sort of trophy. Looked like a plastic red rooster in a plexiglass casing...

They got 3rd place and IMO Al Ahly is overhyped and failed to deliver well at the Tokyo games. The baggage handlers would have been excited if Al Ahly got 10th place or 1st place.

Nothing new on when the new terminal will open for real?

Nothing new on when the new terminal will open for real?

Hope not too soon. Will miss that T1 transit adventure...it's so bizarre :D

Can't imagine that a new terminal at CAI will improve the overall situation concerning chaos and (dis)organization. :(

yes, but it will have lots of Star Alliance branding ! Such an improvement..

I flew out of CAI T2 (i.e. the terminal immediately adjacent to T3) on the morning of Thursday 18 December 2008. Although at the time I wasn't aware of what was going on (although a Star Alliance plane parked at T3 did arouse my interest), President Hosni Mubarak did indeed visit T3 that day. See here:

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2008/927/eg2.htm

For anyone interested this is the link to the Main Contractor's CAI T3 web-page:

http://www.tavconstruction.com/tav/Projects/Aviation---Airports/Completed-Projects/Cairo-International-Airport-Tb3-Terminal-(Egypt)-M.aspx

Flying as I do 6-8 times a year into CAI T2 with BA I've got to say it's the only major terminal in the world I've arrived at where - even if you are first off the plane - your bags are on the conveyor belt before you reach the baggage reclaim hall.

For the record Al-Ahly, who qualified by virtue of being Winners of the CAF Champions League 2008, finished sixth overall (losing the play-off match for fifth place on 18 December 2008 in Yokohama, Japan - they certainly didn't finish 3rd!) in the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup.

Was just astonished when reading the thread title ;)

Was flzing ZRH-CAI-LXR on MS last sunday, and as ZRH-CAI was a codeshare operated by LX, the flight arrived at T2. The connecting flight started at T1 domestic terminal.

I don't tell how many taxi drivers offered their service while I was waiting for the transfer bus (the cheapest offer was about 4 EUR) and how many of them told me that the bus will come in one hour / half an hour / not at all.

T1 domestic wasn't that comfortable, there is no lounge. I just got a voucher for one (1!) coffee, while I had to pay all the consecutive ones, 20 EGP (ca. 3 EUR) per cup

And nobody knew when T3 will open ;-).

I flew out of CAI T2 (i.e. the terminal immediately adjacent to T3) on the morning of Thursday 18 December 2008. Although at the time I wasn't aware of what was going on (although a Star Alliance plane parked at T3 did arouse my interest), President Hosni Mubarak did indeed visit T3 that day. See here:

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2008/927/eg2.htm

For anyone interested this is the link to the Main Contractor's CAI T3 web-page:

http://www.tavconstruction.com/tav/Projects/Aviation---Airports/Completed-Projects/Cairo-International-Airport-Tb3-Terminal-(Egypt)-M.aspx

Flying as I do 6-8 times a year into CAI T2 with BA I've got to say it's the only major terminal in the world I've arrived at where - even if you are first off the plane - your bags are on the conveyor belt before you reach the baggage reclaim hall.

For the record Al-Ahly, who qualified by virtue of being Winners of the CAF Champions League 2008, finished sixth overall (losing the play-off match for fifth place on 18 December 2008 in Yokohama, Japan - they certainly didn't finish 3rd!) in the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup.

Ah well...just goes to show that not all Egyptians keep track of Al Ahly ;)
CAI T2 may have quick ground handling, but the insanely small baggage reclaim area is a turn-off.

Anyone can build a new glitsy terminal but if the same old processes come with it you haven't acheived much at all.

Sounds like all that's happened with this new terminal has been masking the good old 'CAI Chaos' with make-up, bells and whistles.

I do look forward to seeing the CAI terminal though-loooooooooong overdue for such a major destination!

CJ

Does anyone have any news on when the new terminal actually will open?

sorry for bumping up an old thread , but it is 4 months since the thread was started and AFAIK the new terminal is still not open . I have checked the Cairo Airport website and cannot see any info , likewise on Egyptairs website , the only info I can see is on wikipedia ( and thus , of course , infallible :rolleyes: ) stating that :

it will only open to passenger services in May 2009

but also stating :

The transfer of operations at the terminal will take place in several phases with the first phase beginning in April 2009. The first service planned will be a flight from Cairo to New York JFK operated by EgyptAir (MS985) (exact date yet to be announced).

does anyone have any idea when T3 will really truly open in the meaningful sense of actually handling pax ( rather than ribbon-cutting ceremonies etc ) ?

Following EGYPTAIR service transfers to Terminal 3.

New York JFK eff 27APR09
Sharm el Sheikh eff 25MAY09

Following EGYPTAIR service transfers to Terminal 3.


Sharm el Sheikh eff 25MAY09

That will be good-- what a pain it was last week going from T2 to T1 to Hall 4!! :td:

Following EGYPTAIR service transfers to Terminal 3.

New York JFK eff 27APR09
Sharm el Sheikh eff 25MAY09

Amazing. When I was in Cairo during the X'mas period, the hotel limousine was telling me that the new terminal was opening in a week's time. I felt that it was such a shame with my timing as I read about the lovely new Egypt Air lounge. Looks like I didn't really miss anything :D

EGYPTAIR has issued press release on the move, but for New York only.

Sharm el Sheikh is based on Amadeus timetable display, saying it'll operate out of T3 from 25MAY09

I've just received an e-mail from my employer's embedded travel agent advising that LH and LX will start operating from CAI T3 on 4 May 2009 - Inshallah!

I've just received an e-mail from my employer's embedded travel agent advising that LH and LX will start operating from CAI T3 on 4 May 2009 - Inshallah!

Inshallah is the key word here!

Here's the full schedule:
USA Flights
27APR09: JFK

Domestic (Egypt)
25MAY09: ABS, ALY, ASW, HRG, LXR, RMF, SSH
27MAY09: ATZ
04JUN09: MUH

International (except USA)
15JUN09: ALG, AMM, ATH, AUH, BAH, BCN, BEY, BKK, BOM, BRU, CAN, CDG, CMN, CTA, DAM, DME, DMM, DOH, DXB, FCO, FRA, GVA, IST, JED, JNB, KAN, KRT, KUL, KWI, LCA, LHR, MAD, MCT, MED, MUC, MXP, RUH, SAH, SHJ, TIP, VIE,
16JUN09: ACC, ADD, ALP, DAR, DUS, EBB, LOS, NBO, SXF, NRT, YUL
17JUN09: AMS, ASM, BEN, LIS, PEK, TUN
18JUN09: MLA, KIX

Other Star Alliance carriers' phased move into Terminal 3:


04MAY09: Austrian Airlines and Swiss International

05MAY09: Lufthansa (to be confirmed)

11MAY09: bmi (to be confirmed)

18MAY09: Singapore Airlines (to be confirmed)

18MAY09: Turkish Airlines (to be confirmed)

As an interim measure other non-Star Alliance carriers operating from Terminal 2 will briefly relocate to Terminal 3 in 2009 while the former terminal is renovated

Yayyyyy!!!! Finally!

let's see how this pans out, i am sure the transfer process will still be chaos.

So I'll see both terminals in CAI this June. Arrivin' from MUC with MS on 9th and leaving to HRG on 11th.

My way back from HRG via CAI to MUC on 21st. I'm looking forward to my trip back via new T3...

Other Star Alliance carriers' phased move into Terminal 3:


04MAY09: Austrian Airlines and Swiss International

05MAY09: Lufthansa (to be confirmed)

11MAY09: bmi (to be confirmed)

18MAY09: Singapore Airlines (to be confirmed)

18MAY09: Turkish Airlines (to be confirmed)

As an interim measure other non-Star Alliance carriers operating from Terminal 2 will briefly relocate to Terminal 3 in 2009 while the former terminal is renovated

Yayyyyy!!!! Finally!

Pretty much the same like I mentioned on 27APR09.
http://airlineroute.blogspot.com/2009/04/cairo-airport-terminal-3-opens-this.html

As an interim measure other non-Star Alliance carriers operating from Terminal 2 will briefly relocate to Terminal 3 in 2009 while the former terminal is renovated.

That's news to me, and massively relevant. Thank you.

Mind you I can't see any renovation of Terminal 2 being brief - the end of 2010 is probably a realistic target for completion.

That's news to me, and massively relevant. Thank you.

Mind you I can't see any renovation of Terminal 2 being brief - the end of 2010 is probably a realistic target for completion.

Phil, it will take around 36 months to completely renovate Terminal 2 to the standards of Terminal 3, and therefore expect a reshuffling of airlines between all 3 terminals between now and 2012.

so with the 'new old' the 'old new' and so forth.. is this terminal now going to be called 'new new' ?

So has the schedule been met so far ?

So, I guess those "friendly" toilet cleaning guys in T1, and T2 will then move to T3, too. ;)

So far, so good.
LH nows uses T3.

So has the schedule been met so far ?

Has anyone tried the new Star Alliance lounge in T3? In my last trip to Cairo, it was still using the old terminal. The lounge, whilst being ok, was not very impressive. I read that the new terminal will have a very nice Star Alliance lounge.

Are EK using the new terminal? I can't find any information about it.

I arrived at CAI T3 yesterday afternoon on an MS flight ex-HRG.

There are obvious operational teething troubles; e.g. it took the best part of 15 minutes to get the airbridge into position before the cabin door could be opened, and the luggage took 45 minutes to put in an appearance on the conveyor belt (it was only a domestic flight on an Embraer 170).

Architecturally the new T3 building looks great (by Egyptian standards). Everything is shiny, the air-conditioning works, and there is none of that 'chaotic' feeling to the place that you get in CAI T2.

However the inevitable cock-ups are clearly visible. The two adjacent 'Baggage Reclaim and Exit' signs pointing in opposite directions, the clock that is three hours out and, most annoyingly, a pedestrian crossing outside the domestic arrivals exit that is ramped on one side but not on the other (great fun with a luggage trolley)!

However, all in all, it is a massive leap forward for CAI.

It appears that ALL MS Domestic flights have now transferred to CAI T3 - at least if the newly-updated airport terminal signs I saw as I took Mrs PtF to CAI this morning for a BA flight to LHR are to be believed.

I arrive on LH (FRA-CAI) 3 days ago, and we landed in the brand new T3. Very nice.. luggage came out with no issues, although Priority bags were not necessarily first. Bags come out on both sides of the luggage belt.

I had a connecting flight to SSH on MS, which also left at T3 (Gate F/G). I was given a EgyptAir Lounge invitation, but there seemed to be no Lounge for domestic flights from T3, although there was a sign to a Lounge that lead to nowhere. I asked some of the folks, and they told that the lounge is not operational, but I could present the invitation card at the Coffee shop and any drink for free, which I did.

I will head back to FRA next week on LH (T3), and will let you know if there is a lounge on the international side.

I arrive on LH (FRA-CAI) 3 days ago, and we landed in the brand new T3. Very nice.. luggage came out with no issues, although Priority bags were not necessarily first. Bags come out on both sides of the luggage belt.

I had a connecting flight to SSH on MS, which also left at T3 (Gate F/G). I was given a EgyptAir Lounge invitation, but there seemed to be no Lounge for domestic flights from T3, although there was a sign to a Lounge that lead to nowhere. I asked some of the folks, and they told that the lounge is not operational, but I could present the invitation card at the Coffee shop and any drink for free, which I did.

I will head back to FRA next week on LH (T3), and will let you know if there is a lounge on the international side.

I was in CAI last week and can confirm that there is a lounge in T3!
(I didn't check it out though as I was on a direct turnaround).
At that time LH,LX,OS,BD and the MS service to JFK were using T3.

Hi,

I just cam back from Cairo after a trip to SSH... I can confirm the following:

1) For Domestic flights from T3, there is no LOUNGE.. You are given a lounge invitation which you show to the coffee stand and get a free drink.
2) For international flights from T3, there is a new Egyptair/Star Alliance lounge. New/modern.. Food and drink are OK but limited to water/softdrinks, sandwiches, and middle east pastries. I would not arrive early to use the lounge.

I have pictures, if someone if kind enough to host.

Hi,

I just cam back from Cairo after a trip to SSH... I can confirm the following:

1) For Domestic flights from T3, there is no LOUNGE.. You are given a lounge invitation which you show to the coffee stand and get a free drink.
2) For international flights from T3, there is a new Egyptair/Star Alliance lounge. New/modern.. Food and drink are OK but limited to water/softdrinks, sandwiches, and middle east pastries. I would not arrive early to use the lounge.

I have pictures, if someone if kind enough to host.

It must still be better than the previous Egyptair lounge though as the previous one was quite old. Would be great if we can see some photos :)

...

I have pictures, if someone if kind enough to host.

Just set up an ACfly Flickr account and upload !:)

2) For international flights from T3, there is a new Egyptair/Star Alliance lounge. New/modern.. Food and drink are OK but limited to water/softdrinks, sandwiches, and middle east pastries. I would not arrive early to use the lounge.

I have an 11 hour layover at T3 when I transfer from JFK flight to BKK flight on MS. Do they have "free" wifi at T3 Star Alliance lounge? Do they have F lounge too? Any good idea on spending time except sightseeing? (done enough sightseeing already)

I have an 11 hour layover at T3 when I transfer from JFK flight to BKK flight on MS. Do they have "free" wifi at T3 Star Alliance lounge? Do they have F lounge too? Any good idea on spending time except sightseeing? (done enough sightseeing already)

Maybe try to catch a movie and a bite at city stars?

Received an update email from MS today:

"We would like to inform you that as of Saturday 13th June 2009 EGYPTAIR will start operating its international flights from Cairo international airport new terminal.

As you may know that our flight to New York and all our domestic flights are already being operated from TB3.
Starting Saturday the 13th Jun 2009 all departure/arrival of following Flights will be from (TB3):
Frankfurt-Munich-Berlin-Dusseldorf- Rome-Milan-Catania- Malta- London- Madrid-Barcelona- Lisbon- Budapest- Bangkok- Beijing-Guangzhou.

All other international destinations' departure/arrival will be from TB3 on Monday the 15th June2009.

For more information please visit www.egyptair.com"

So, in theaory, all there services should be via T3, as of Monday.

I have an 11 hour layover at T3 when I transfer from JFK flight to BKK flight on MS. Do they have "free" wifi at T3 Star Alliance lounge? Do they have F lounge too? Any good idea on spending time except sightseeing? (done enough sightseeing already)

I hope your transfer at T3 is going better than mine at T1 today. Flying YUL-CAI-JNB in F/J. The scheduled layover is 11.5 hours. Flight departed 2.5 hours late from YUL. Now two hours in CAI and I still haven't received my onward boarding pass, which means I'm in limbo. The transfer process is the biggest fiasco I have witnessed in all my years of traveling. I'm hoping that T3 will fix this. It's unreal. At least I'm in the lounge now. My passport is somewhere in the airport, which makes me very nervous, but what can I do. They did mention something about getting me a hotel room since my layover is long and I'm flying in premium cabins. I'll believe it when I see it.

Flying YUL-CAI-JNB in F/J. The transfer process is the biggest fiasco I have witnessed in all my years of traveling.

Presumably you chose to transit CAI on your YUL-JNB itinerary on the basis of cost alone. Frankly anyone who chooses to fly two long haul MS flights with a connection in CAI is asking for trouble and/or disappointment.

According to a quick look on Trip Finder you could have travelled in Business Class on an AC/LH or AC/SA (all Star Alliance carriers) itinerary for only another 10% extra.

Presumably you chose to transit CAI on your YUL-JNB itinerary on the basis of cost alone. Frankly anyone who chooses to fly two long haul MS flights with a connection in CAI is asking for trouble and/or disappointment.

According to a quick look on Trip Finder you could have travelled in Business Class on an AC/LH or AC/SA (all Star Alliance carriers) itinerary for only another 10% extra.

Its an adventure!

i might do JFK-CAI-JNB for the WC in june. quick question...are there restaurants/bars at CAI?

and is alcohol served?

also, if the layover is long enough, is it possible to go into the city for the day?

FYI, there is no wifi being offered at MS business/first class lounge at CAI at this time. Food and beverage is not that impressive. Not a place to spend more than 30 minutes, I am afraid.

FYI, there is no wifi being offered at MS business/first class lounge at CAI at this time.

That's strange, given that free wifi appears to be available throughout CAI T2 (certainly both in the lounges and at the boarding gates).

Was most recently in Cairo T3 (and T2 FWIW). Although new, the terminal seems to be only as good as those that work in it ! The departure areas for the domestic flights were cramped,bottle necks for security, only one or 2 food outlets beyond domestic security. There was a small domestic *A*G lounge opposite the one coffee shop, it was very crowded and was nothing more than a room with chairs, a coffee machine etc. As usual beware of the bak-shish pitfalls.

Hi all! I'm new here...

I've a question. In about 4 weeks I will travel to Egypt. I will fly with KLM to Cairo airport Terminal 1. I'm thinking to book a flight to my final destination Alexandria. The price is very good just €32 but I will arrive with KLM at 1.00am at Terminal 1 and the Egyptair domestic flight to Alexandria will leave at 10.45am at terminal 3. What kind of thinks can I do at Cairo airport to dead the time? And I have an another problem... I will arrive with 35-46 kg baggage (yes you can travel with this amount of luggage when flying to Cairo with KLM) But the maximum baggage is 20kg when flying domestic with Egyptair Express. I found a list at Egyptair.com that you must only pay 5 Egyptian pounds for excessive baggage... is this true? because the costs are very low.

Cairo T3... what can you say? It is new. It is shiny. The modern, flat screen panels tell you the plane is boarding and the gate open when no such thing is occuring. There is a Burger King which is nicer to hang out at than the so called business lounge.

Oh.. and on arrival. Standing in the business class line for passport check and having many expeditors cut to the front of the line with stacks of passports of VIPs, resulting in the business class line being much slower, and more frustrating, than the normal passport control lines. Welcome to Egypt!

I'm proud to report that I'm writing this while sitting in the newly opened Star Alliance lounge in T3. I gather it has only been open for a few days and it is a real improvement over the previous two temporary lounges they had here. Negatives - food is mediocre and no alcohol. But the facility has comfortable chairs with numerous plugs, European 2 pin style, and is warmly decorated. Also there is internet. I saw some English language magazines and they have International Herald Tribune. So am definitely feeling better about what was a dire circumstance here. I did have to discuss entry with the lounge dragons as I just hit *G last week and am awaiting my cards - but the ticket agent put Gold on my bp and I had a printout of my mileage from the web and they didn't really have much energy to argue.