If I may add my two cents worth as a Cairo-based expat who has literally flown the routes you are debating some 50 times in the past 7 years (I used to work on a massive civil engineering project on the western shores of Lake Nasser about 50km north of ABS).

Firstly, are you visiting Egypt purely as a tourist or do your plans call for you to obtain an Egyptian residence visa? This has a huge bearing on the actual airfare you pay for domestic flights, as the US$300-500 mentioned in your first post suddenly becomes EGP300-500 (i.e. approximately one-fifth of what you pay as a tourist!) I know it makes me feel pretty smug!

Secondly, unless you are a raging alcoholic the issue of whether Egypt Air is dry or not is immaterial to me, particularly at 4:00AM. I know from previous experience on international Egypt Air flights that they have no objection to you taking your own modest supply on board for in-flight consumption, but on the short domestic flights it is hardly a consideration. Particularly if you grab a window seat (left side preferable) you will be spending too much time admiring the views of the river Nile, especially once you get south of Luxor, and Lake Nasser.

The difference in catering between the classes is not significant - a hot drink and a piece of cake or a biscuit in Economy, maybe a two course snack served on a tray in Business. With no boarding priorities for Business Class passengers (it's every man for himself at the boarding gate!) and the relatively short flight durations, ABS-ASW and ASW-LXR are both under 30 minutes, the class of travel domestically has never been an issue for me.

With regards to the seating, I'm 6'4" and even for a two hour flight (CAI-ABS would not exceed that) I find Economy to be OK. I'm 99% sure, however, that your CAI-ABS flight will stop in ASW heading south.

Take care at CAI; the flight announcements are very poor and you have to keep a watchful eye out for when your flight is boarding - not the easiest thing to do at 4:00AM. Of the airports, ASW probably has the most pleasant terminal at present.

At least the temperatures in Upper Egypt are starting to cool down, although it's still in the lower 40sC (approx 110F) in the daytime. As a consequence it can get a bit bumpy with turbulence when approaching ASW prior to landing.

As a final note, I notice your location is DCA/IAD. May I suggest that if you are a first-time visitor to CAI you arrange for a 'meet and assist' through your hotel or a travel agent to ease your path through immigration and customs. In the absence of this you will experience a feeling similar to that a non-American experiences when passing through IAD immigration!