CAI is definitely one of my least favourite airports the travel through. Transferring is a pain, i usually just take a cab from 1 to 3 when heading to hurghada.

If EK has moved to T2, hopefully they took the Mcds with them; its the only decent thing about that airport.

I'm flying on the 10th, back on 11th I'll let you all know how it is.

Missing the T2 change by just a few days! Shame as T2 looks miles better than T1, especially that dreadful lounge

Not bothered to be honest - dinner with a friend and flying back.

I did a turnaround yesterday in Cairo.

Despite the notifications from EK (SMS/Email) saying that inbound/outbound flights had changed to T2, the plane was still parked remotely and buses to/from T1 were used.

Having said that the transit experience was super smooth, after handing over my passport and itinerary to the security officer at the transit desk, I subsequently received my EK boarding pass and transit stamp within 10 minutes.

where are you going? I may do a turn around next time ie the return to cai

On to Asia although it seems that EK have now pulled the cheap F fares, e.g. to Japan in F it's now EGP60K+.

Also both on J/F fares it's not possible to have a stopover on the outbound any more (correct me if I'm mistaken!)

Yeah you can it's just increasing the prices - happy with 10k aed to HND in F

For anyone that is interested, I flew out of Cairo yesterday and Emirates is now flying from Terminal 2 (as of about 2 days ago). A huge improvement from the old terminal, but it still isn't a great experience. Over an hour from arrival to gate, including long queues to get to check in then another security check after immigration.
I did not check out the new lounge it required another security check and bag x-ray. At that point it was close enough to boarding time that I wouldn't have had much time there anyway and was done taking my shoes off.
McD's did not move, but they had a few decent looking restaurants- a Burger King, a Pizza place, a sandwich/salad place and a coffee shop in the central area.

I did a turnaround at the new T2 yesterday. Flight landed on time and it was a very short taxi to the gate compared to the old terminal.

There happened to be an EK ground staff employee waiting on the jet bridge as I deplaned (17:05) who I recognised from December. I mentioned to him that I was flying back on the same plane and he was happy to help, immediately contacting his colleagues by radio and pointing me in the right direction of the new transit area. He was clearly acutely aware that people are turning around in Cairo due to price of the tickets.

When I got to the transit area, the desk was unmanned (17:10). That remained the case for approximately 30 minutes during which time I met another passenger due to fly on EK who was transiting from another airline - not due to price but simply due to itinerary - who had already been waiting for nearly 45 minutes for someone to show up and (understandably) was starting to panic. Although it was starting to get tight, I thought I would wait and see what happened rather than going through immigration, given that I had already checked in online. I told the other passenger that someone from EK should be coming but it was ultimately his choice if he wanted to wait. He eventually decided to stay and wait.

When an EK employee arrived (17:25), he took our passports and said it would take a little while for him to come back due to the distance of the transit area to the check in desks. He only knew to come to the transit area because he had been radioed by the employee I met at the gate so I suspect that the other transit passenger was fairly fortunate.

Shortly after he left, the transit officer finally appeared (17:40) and handed out some passports with boarding cards. He also called various airlines of new people waiting and once again disappeared.

When the EK employee returned with boarding passes, (18:00) we had to wait for the transit officer to return in order to stamp them. By the time he returned (18:10), I was getting a little worried given the flight was scheduled to leave at 18:40. although the EK employee assured us it would not be a problem and again, radioed ahead. With stamped boarding passes he then escorted us upstairs to security and bid us goodbye.

Security was quick with no lines at all (18:15). The new terminal appears to be infinitely nicer than the old one but I did not have time to stop to see the lounge. As I got to the gate (18:20), boarding had not even started yet.

In summary, if you're planning to turnaround, I would definitely find an EK ground employee as soon as you can on arrival. They are exceptionally polite and keen to do their best to help. If I didn't manage to find someone shortly after arriving, I would simply buy a visa stamp and go through immigration given that it is clear that it is not possible to rely on the new transit desk being staffed.

Hope this helps people planning to do the same.

I have used the new refurbished terminal 2 twice in the past two weeks. It's a million times better than the old terminal but the same issues do exist to a lesser extent.

You still have to go through security before check in and then once again after immigration which is a real pain.

Immigration can be be painfully slow (it took us a good 20 mins due to a lack of immigration officers).

Airside, you have to go through security again to access the lounge and when leaving it which is a bit odd. You should also note that the lounge doesn't serve alcohol, but there is a cafe bar next to a Burger King in the terminal itself thankfully. Personally, I didn't like the lounge at all so just went to Burger King instead.

Arriving is where the best changes are with immigration a lot faster. There were also no queues to get the visa stamp.

All in all it's a big improvement on the old terminal but there are still some issues to iron out.

Also note that CAI doesn't allow for you to bypass check in. Even if you are checked in online you must go to check in to pick up the boarding pass.

You must also take off your shoes regardless of whether they beep or not (so don't redo the laces up in the short distance between first and second security).

It's so cheap for the arrival and departure service you should use that.

I ditched the return to Cai as wasn't feeling great.

This is much better than three times in the Terminal 1. (1- to enter the terminal 2- to access the check in 3- to access the gate)

T2 having whole terminal security rather than each gate security is a big step, no other Cairo terminal has that.

Did you book the VIP service with the private car transfer? Looking into booking this on my next trip but not sure what to expect. How was your experience?

So if I book an F ticket out of CAI (to Melbourne, Australia), I am allowed to have a stop over in DXB?