NileAir

[Brian Yare]

Has anybody here used NileAir? They appear to run flights between Luxor and Cairo several days a week, and fares look to be reasonable. So far as I can tell baggage (30kg hold + 7kg hand baggage) is included, even in their basic fares, which start at around LE600 single.

I am considering Luxor-Cairo-Istanbul (SAW)-Stansted as a possible way home.

http://www.nileair.com/#/en/home

[carrie]

Have you looked at Pegasus out of Hurghada, Hurghada-Istanbul-Gatwick?

[Bombay]

They are part of Egyptair.

[newcastle]

They are part of Egyptair.

Are you sure?

I thought they were a private company owned by individuals and nothing to do with Egyptair.

Perhaps you're thinking of Air Cairo.

[Brian Yare]

Have you looked at Pegasus out of Hurghada, Hurghada-Istanbul-Gatwick?

Yes, IIRC Pegasus fly to Stansted from SAW. I used to use Turkish Air, but they no longer offer cheap(ish) flights.

Ideally I want an airline that flies into Birmingham, but Qatar are looking expensive via Doha. They offer Birmingham-Doha-Australia for about the same price as Birmingham-Doha-Luxor. :-(

[Brian Yare]

They are part of Egyptair.

Not according to their website, whose url I provided n my original post.

Nile Air are "the largest private airline in Egypt and at Cairo Airport" with fares from EGP 595.00.

[newcastle]

Have you looked at Pegasus out of Hurghada, Hurghada-Istanbul-Gatwick?

Yes, IIRC Pegasus fly to Stansted from SAW. I used to use Turkish Air, but they no longer offer cheap(ish) flights.

Ideally I want an airline that flies into Birmingham, but Qatar are looking expensive via Doha. They offer Birmingham-Doha-Australia for about the same price as Birmingham-Doha-Luxor. :-(

Have you asked Thomas Cook whether they'll sell you a one-way ticket from Hurghada to Birmingham? If you haven't been here for over 1 month (or is it 84 days?) you should be able to fly charter....but the info/rules(?) are a bit murky.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g ... Sinai.html

[Bombay]

I don't think Thomas Cook sell any tickets out of Egypt one way only easyJet and Monarch when flying.

[A-Four]

Brian, if as you suggest, find yourself in Istambul, take a tram toward the Topkapi, get off at the Blue Mosque. Walk in the direction of the Topkapi, notice a side street with shops that have information written on blackboards outside.. Many of these places are old 'bucket shops', similar to the ones in London many years ago. Very good value prices, especially Turkish Airlines. .

[Brian Yare]

Further investigation shows that EgyptAir don't like the competition. They are now offering Luxor-Cairo returns from LE1200 although they seem to be only on the very early morning plane.

But if one tries to book these flights from outside Egypt the reduced price is not offered.

Food for thought.

[A-Four]

Long before the Internet age, if you booked a return ticket to, for example, London and return to Cairo or Luxor, or in fact to many other places, you paid a hell of a lot less than buying your tickets within The European cartel. British Airways had a policy of if you knew this and providing it was not a peak time or high season flight, they would equal, or even charge less than the outside European cartel, this was in the days when their shop/booking office was in Piccadilly, London,............not a lot of people know that. .

The Internet has killed many cheap deals that were always available. A classic example are such booking agent like Booking.com. In the past I used these for travelling both in the U.K. and Europe, regular users may notice they are not so cheap these days. I now book direct either by phone or e-mail to my chosen hotel, often for half the price of Internet 'deals'.

It's the same with Trainline.com, they say they offer cheap seats, not true, often they are the same price as a so called 'any time' ticket which is very often given from automated machines in rail stations, whether off peak or not.