► INDONESIA: Fadel confirms Egyptair's new Jakarta route as a request for St. Catherine flights is put in.

Egyptair's (MS) previously outlined plans for a service to the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, are one step closer to reality following a recent meeting between the Egyptian Minister of Civil Aviation, Abdel Aziz Fadel, and Mr Nurfaizi Suwandi, the Indonesian Ambassador to Egypt in which an agreement pertaining to the route (operated via Kuala Lumpur) is set to start operating from December 2.

Monastery at St Catherine, Sinai

Mr Fadel expressed his appreciation for the positive stance taken by the Indonesian government during the ongoing instability in the country and expressed his willingness to support Indonesia's growing airline industry by making Egyptian pilots available for work at airlines in the south-east Asian country.

Mr. Suwandi, who is also an advisor to the Indonesian Minister of Civil Aviation, expressed his full support for an increase cooperation in the field of aviation. He noted that the launch of the new route would cater to the 5'500 Indonesian students currently living and studying at Cairo's Al-Azhar University.

The Ambassador also put in a request for the launch of flights connecting Jakarta to St. Catherine International Airport (the airport serving Saint Catherine Markaz in the Sinai Peninsula where Moses is believed to have received the Ten Commandments) to serve Indonesia's Christian pilgrim market.