EasyJet and easyJet holidays is working on a range of new training and marketing resources to help agents sell its newly launched Cairo city breaks, and has hinted at the possibility of a fam trip to the Egyptian capital.
EasyJet launched a three-times-weekly Luton-Cairo service last year, putting the city on the budget airline map, with easyJet holidays offering packages off the back of the year-round service to Sphinx International airport.
Natasha Marson, easyJet holidays head of trade distribution, told TTG the operator was now looking forward to expanding the assets available to agents beyond social media and shop window collateral.
"We are working on creating training resources and assets for this destination," she said. "Agents are able to share Cairo offers across their social channels or windows using our window poster or new social media tool on the easyJet holidays trade portal.
"We are also continuing to build our hotel portfolio for this destination with some exciting new properties launching soon, and we look forward to offering more choice for customers and more offers and assets for agents.
"We are also currently looking at opportunities to host a fam trip."
EasyJet holidays is also hopeful of expanding its tours and activities portfolio in Cairo with the addition of the long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), which is due to open later this spring after a 12-year delay.
Located north-west of Giza’s Pyramids, the GEM is the world’s largest museum dedicated to one civilisation, with more than 100,000 artefacts – including the full tomb collection of child pharaoh Tutankhamun.
“We know Cairo’s rich history and culture, and the fantastic excursions on offer are the key driver for holidaymakers visiting this city,” Marson added.
When asked about plans to increase services from the current three a week, easyJet UK country manager Ali Gayward said: “We are always reviewing the opportunity to best serve customer demand so this is of course something we will keep under review as we do for all our routes.”
The airline and operator said that since it launched Cairo in late-October, the route had performed well in terms of both flight-only and holiday demand, which had not been dampened by the conflict in Gaza.
“As the industry saw from the war in Ukraine, there was an initial short-term impact on demand for travel but we saw strong recovery by the end of last year,” Gayward added.
Marson, meanwhile, said the inclusion of meet and greet transfers as standard had been warmly welcomed by all travellers.
Looking ahead, both Gayward and Marson said easyJet and easyJet holidays would continue to review “the right opportunities to provide the routes, destinations and hotels that our customers want, where they want them”.
Prices for a three-night stay at Waldorf Astoria Cairo Heliopolis on a room only basis start from £847pp including a 23kg luggage, and flights from London Luton from 27 April.