Egypt’s Ministry of Civil Aviation responded to the claims of a tourist at the Cairo International Airport who left a negative review of his travel experience to foreign websites and channels.
The ministry attached the passenger’s itinerary inside the airport to reveal the circumstances of his claims.
The Ministry said that the blogger traveling through Cairo International Airport published an article entitled “Why I consider Cairo Airport the worst ever”, which was covered by some websites and satellite channels, to narrate his experience of arriving and traveling from Cairo International Airport on November 10-11.
The ministry continued: “The surveillance cameras recordings were reviewed, as the passenger’s itinerary was monitored from his arrival at Cairo International Airport on his first flight coming from Italy until his departure to the hotel, as well as on his second flight, which started from Cairo International Airport heading to Addis Ababa Airport.”
The ministry explained that the passenger arrived at Terminal II on November 10 at 16:50, and the time period from the moment of his arrival until he left the terminal building took about 18 minutes.
They noted that this is a record time for passengers to complete arrival procedures for most airports globally, proving the smoothness of procedures and flexibility of movement within the airport.
The passenger then headed to the Meridian Hotel where he spent about five hours, before arriving at Terminal III at Cairo International Airport on the same day of his arrival in Egypt to travel on Ethiopian Airlines flight heading to Addis Ababa, which took off at 2:50 am on November 11.
His travel experience through the first checkpoint took about one minute, after which he went to the airline counter to complete his travel procedures, which took about eight minutes, then he went to the passport counter, which took one minute.
This confirms the smooth flow of the passenger’s movement inside the airport, contradicting what he said about chaos and irregularity that made him feel uncomfortable.
The passenger wasn’t carrying any loaded bags and only carried a handbag and a small backpack, which his claims about being subjected to harassment from workers regarding requesting a tip in exchange for helping him carry his bags.
Regarding the passenger’s complaint about tips, the airport’s work policy denies what his claims as the Cairo International Airport has guidance stickers that read (NO TIPS) and are installed in various locations at the airport, supported by a complaint number to confront any wrong behavior.
The ministry also addressed his claims about security procedures applied at Cairo International Airport, and confirmed that the security procedures followed by the airport authorities are subject to international standards in security and safety.
The passenger described the Cairo International Airport staff as aggressive and unfriendly, criticizing their behavior and feeling uncomfortable.
However, the ministry reported that none of this was captured by the cameras during the passenger’s stay at the airport, as he did not show any direct interaction or contact with anyone inside the arrivals and departures halls, the ministry said.
“Here we confirm that this is unjustified abuse directed at the staff and causes harm to their reputation without any justification or material or tangible evidence to prove the validity of what was mentioned, and these are misleading claims that aim primarily to defame and harm the reputation of the staff and harm the name and status of Cairo International Airport and its employees,” the ministry said.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
