Cairo-based Egyptair has set its sights on the US as part of its network expansion plans, announcing two new routes to Los Angeles and Chicago, along with increased frequencies to existing routes starting next year. This expansion will be helped by the arrival of the newest member in the airline’s fleet, the Airbus A350-900s.
With the delivery of the first A350 on the horizon, the new aircraft type will not only help with the carrier’s network expansion plans but also its planned fleet renewal and modernization.
New US Destinations – Los Angeles And Chicago
With the Middle East – United States being a considerably busy market, Egyptair is set to increase its market share within the coming year, as the airline is working on expanding its destinations in the US from three to five. As the carrier stated earlier this year, the new routes the airline intends to start operating to are 
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and 
Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), from the airline’s hub in Cairo International Airport (CAI).
Recent reports from FlightGlobal indicate that the carrier is set to launch services to LAX and ORD next year, during May and June, respectively. The airline CEO, Captain Ahmed Adel, during an interview with Simple Flying during the 2025 Paris Air Show, stated that these expansion plans were dependent on the delivery of the airline’s Airbus A350-900 aircraft type.
“The first batch of seven A350s is going to complement the network and work in tandem with the 787s because the A350 is higher capacity. Basically, they’re going to work on the same network. Once we get north of eight aircraft, we’re going to start opening new routes. One of the main routes on the menu will be LAX, because the numbers look good, but we need to have at least six or seven A350s to operate that.”
The airline aims to start sales of this route soon and advertise the new routes.
Significantly Increasing Frequencies To The US
Apart from launching two new routes next year, the carrier is also planning to increase frequencies to its existing routes to the US soon thereafter. The carrier currently operates daily flights to New York JFK airport while operating two weekly flights to Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) and thrice weekly flights to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) using its fleet of Boeing 777s and Boeing 787s.
As the carrier’s fleet size increases, these two, along with two new routes launching next year, are planned to be operated daily by the beginning of 2027. By doing so, the carrier will increase its US operations from 12 weekly flights across three destinations to 35 weekly flights across five destinations.
The existing destinations, paired with ORD and LAX, will also enable Egyptair to strategically offer greater connectivity across the US and North America because these airports also see a significant presence of the airline’s fellow Star Alliance and codeshare partner, United Airlines, which dominates Chicago, Newark, and Washington Dulles airports in terms of the number of flights offered. The expanded connectivity offered by United will also complement the network connectivity offered to Egyptair by Air Canada from Toronto, Canada.
New Addition To The Fleet – The Airbus A350
With the carrier’s US network expansion plans entirely dependent on the arrival of the A350 into the airline’s fleet, it is worth looking at the details. Egyptair initially ordered the aircraft type in late 2023 with 10 examples set as firm orders and the remaining six on the order to be set as options. However, earlier this year, during the Paris Air Show, these options were converted to firm orders, indicating the airline intends to integrate all 16 aircraft into its fleet.
The airline is expecting the first of its A350s to be delivered sometime in December this year. Apart from the network expansion plans, the carrier will also deploy these aircraft alongside its existing Boeing widebody aircraft across the network, with Egyptair eventually replacing its entire 777 fleet.
Ultimately, this will leave Egyptair with the latest generation of widebody aircraft, the Boeing 787s and the Airbus A350s, for all its long-haul destinations, giving it the operational flexibility required for further network growth, while also reducing the carrier’s carbon footprint and bringing the airline cost savings in terms of fuel burn, which can be substantial on these long-haul routes such as those to North America the airline intends to deploy these aircraft on.
