Egypt's new interim president, Adly Mansour, on Tuesday July 16, presided over the swearing-in ceremony of his new cabinet, scheduled to last six months while fresh elections are planned, whereupon he appointed Mr Abdel Aziz Fadel, the current Chairman and CEO of Egyptair Maintenance & Engineering, to the post of interim Minister of Civil Aviation. Mr Fadel replaces Engineer Wael El-Maadawy who was ousted along with the rest of Mohammad Morsi's government during last week's military-backed coup d'état. |
| Mr Abdel Aziz Fadel |
According to Egypt's Daily News, "certain groups" in the civil aviation field had called for the appointment of a minister of civil aviation who belonged to neither the Muslim Brotherhood nor was connected to the former Mubarak regime.
Mr Fadel holds a bachelor's degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Military Technical College and also has a diploma in Total Quality Management from the American University in Cairo. He joined the Egyptian Air Force in 1972 as an aircraft maintenance engineer followed by several top executive maintenance, engineering and logistics positions till he became vice president of safety and quality in 2001.
His service in the Egyptian Air Force was eventually merited with the promotion to Major General. Thereafter, he headed the Airworthiness Directorate of the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority before joining Egyptair in 2003 as Deputy Chairman of the Maintenance & Engineering division. He was appointed chairman and CEO in August 2005.
Mr Fadel's appointment comes after a week of severe turmoil for not only the Egyptian political scene, but the local aviation scene as well. During the course of the last three weeks, passenger traffic at Cairo international Airport has dropped by 30 percent, prompting airlines to either cancel or combine flights, while the VIP Lounge has not been recently opened.
Lebanese and Jordanian airlines have cancelled their flights to and from Cairo, while charters have had to operate joint flights, especially for pilgrims travelling to Saudi Arabia. So far, Syrianair (RB) has resumed operations to the Egyptian capital, after a nine-day lull brought on by the recent introduction of new regulations facing Syrians wanting to travel to Egypt.
Lebanese and Jordanian airlines have cancelled their flights to and from Cairo, while charters have had to operate joint flights, especially for pilgrims travelling to Saudi Arabia. So far, Syrianair (RB) has resumed operations to the Egyptian capital, after a nine-day lull brought on by the recent introduction of new regulations facing Syrians wanting to travel to Egypt.
