At the Airport

The Alexandria Airlines flight from Cairo to Luxor departed from Cairo Airport Terminal 1 Hall 1, mainly serving domestic destinations. All passengers using the terminal (or any Egyptian airport terminals) would need to clear three security checkpoints. The first checkpoint was right at the entrance of the terminal building, where the authorities would only admit personnel with a valid booking into the terminal. The second checkpoint is inside the terminal building, right before the airlines’ check-in counters, and the third is before entering the aircraft waiting area. Alexandria Airlines’ check-in counters are not located in the main terminal but in an obscure part of the terminal building. The two check-in counters that Alexandria Airlines uses are Economy Class counters, as the airlines only have Economy Class onboard. Alexandria Airlines uses the EgyptAir counters; even their boarding pass was labelled EgyptAir. Today’s flight was full, causing the queue at the check-in counters to be long. Coupled with the slow check-in process, it took us about 20 minutes to get our luggage checked in. The ground staff did not give us any information on where the gate was, perhaps because our tour director was around to help us.

The Aircraft

According to the airline’s website, Alexandria Airlines currently has a fleet of two aircraft, the older B737-500 and a relatively newer B777-300. Alexandria Airlines used their smaller B737-500 aircraft to fly between Cairo and Luxor today.

The Cabin

Alexandria Airlines B737-500 has 121 seats in all Economy Class seats. The single-aisle aircraft looked gloomy due to the combination of dark blue coloured seats and the yellow lighting used in the cabin. The aircraft looked like it was stuck in yesteryears, with the seats showing signs of ageing and the oversized latch on the overhead bin. Even the call and light buttons above the seats were huge physical buttons.

The only two lavatories are located at the aircraft’s front and rear. The lavatories were in very bad shape, with serious yellowing and stains. The entire lavatories feel small, perhaps due to the size of the aircraft and the lighting colour used. The mirrors the airline installed in its lavatories did little to give its users a sense of spaciousness. The small sink in the lavatory is fitted with the traditional push button taps. The lavatory has no amenities besides a dirty hand soap container (those you would buy from supermarkets). The lever flush did not even work, at least for the rear lavatory that I used.

The Seat

Seats onboard the single-aisle Alexandria Airlines B737-500 are arranged in a 3-3 configuration. Seats on the exit row are arranged in a 2-2 configuration, and the last row has only three seats on the right of the aircraft. Seats come with a seat pitch of 30” and measure 17.5″ wide with a 3″ recline. The legroom on each seat was excellent, especially for a short-haul flight. I find the seats very comfortable due to the thick padding used. Each seat is fitted with a large seat pocket. However, the seat pocket on my seat had some trash in it that I did not find inviting to use. The tray table fitted on each seat was large.

Inflight Entertainment

Alexandria Airlines B737-500 has been in service for over 30 years (according to the airline’s website). Thus, no Inflight Entertainment was installed, not even the in-sit radio in older aircraft. The two flight attendants serving this short domestic run perform safety demonstrations manually.

Meal Service

Due to the short flight time (of 1 hour), no meals were served onboard the aircraft. However, the cabin crew went around distributing bottled water to all passengers.

Service

I thought the service onboard was good for a short domestic run and limited interaction opportunities. The cabin crew was seen smiling and greeting all passengers at the door and immediately sprung into action, distributing water with a smile as soon as the seat belt signs were turned off. They were seen constantly patrolling the cabin to clear trash and diligently securing the cabin for take-off and landing.

Afterthought

The ageing Alexandria Airlines B737-500 served its purpose of ferrying passengers from Cairo to Luxor for the short 1-hour domestic flight. I found the legroom was generous, and the seating was comfortable. The aircraft does come across as a little dirty in the seat pockets and the lavatory. The service rendered by the two flight attendants was good.