The Civil Aviation Authority announced the suspension of the Sold Outside, Ticketed Outside (SOTO) ticket system, which are tickets for flights that start and end outside Egypt, and with an itinerary that does not include any points in Egypt.
In a letter sent to airlines and tourism agents, the Civil Aviation Authority said that in light of the increase in the sale rates of the SOTO tickets, which has a negative impact on the Egyptian economy, authorities have moved to halt the system.
The Civil Aviation Authority added that the suspension decision will be applied as of June 15 until further notice.
The SOTO system is used for booking airline tickets in local currency inside Egypt to foreign destinations without going through Egypt.
This is done through foreign transfers on the black market through some travel agents, which has caused foreign currency issues due to circulation away from the official currency market (banks), thereby harming the Egyptian economy.
