Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi attended, on Tuesday 3rd September, 2024, the inauguration of the International Airshow 2024. 

This is the first edition of the Airshow to be held in Egypt. 

The three-day event is organised at Alamein International Airport under the auspices of President El-Sisi. 

Representatives of more than 100 countries and more than 300 aeroplane manufacturers as well as space industrialists are taking part in the three-day event. 

Also attending are experts in air, space and defense industries around the world, as well as heads of regional and international organizations concerned with civil aviation.

The event, the largest in Africa and the Middle East, aims to accelerate industrialization, digitalization, and globalization in the defense, space, and commercial aviation sectors in Africa and the Middle East.

President El Sisi posed for a photo op with the participants ahead of the inauguration of the event. 

A documentary about the planes exhibited in the airshow was played. It narrated the story of the first jet operated by an Egyptian pilot that touched down at Heliopolis Airport in 1930. 

In 1931, a royal decree was issued to establish the Royal Air Force after Egypt had bought five Tiger Squadron. 

A year later, on May 7, another royal decree was issued to establish the national flag carrier, EgyptAir.

Since 2015, Egypt has been working to upgrade the air force fleet, acquiring the latest models of 4G+ fighters, such as the Rafales and MiG-29. 

Modern helicopters, such as Agusta, Kamov and Mi-24, also joined the Egyptian fleet. 

The documentary also shed light on New Alamein City, which is hosting the first edition of the International Airshow in Egypt. 

The Airshow is organized at Alamein International Airport over 125,000 square meters. A smart exhibition hall standing over 10,000 square meters is used by companies to showcase their aircrafts. About 100 planes are lined along the ground show area which extends for 100,000 square meters.
 

President El-Sisi then inspected the pavilions to get first-hand information about exhibits of the participating firms.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi inspected the Arab Organization for Industrialisation (AOI)’s pavilion at Egypt’s first International Airshow 2024.

During his tour, President Sisi listened to a detailed explanation by AOI chairman Mokhtar Abdel Latif about the organization’s products and activities related to the aviation industry.

The AOI-affiliated engine factory undergoes engine overhaul for 16 different aircraft models, Abdel Latif said.

He further noted that the factory has obtained the accreditation of the French “Safran” Engines Group to be the only international center approved and licensed globally by the company to perform overhaul, maintenance, repair and manufacture spare parts for the LARZAC engine installed on the “Alpha Jet” aircraft.

The US company “Honeywell” approved the engine factory to provide maintenance, repair and overhauling services to the K-8 trainer aircraft, he added. 

Abdel Latif said the factory has also been approved to be an international center for overhauling the “M1E1” tank engine, in cooperation with “Dassault Aviation”, a French aerospace company with proven dual expertise as a manufacturer of both military aircraft and business jets.

The AOI chairman said the engine factory has a Digital Manufacturing Centre (DMC) for manufacturing spare parts for civilian and military industries.

Abdel Latif said the exhibition includes a group of free air bombs, including bunker penetrator bomb “Hafez 3” that could penetrate reinforced concrete up to 180 cm thick, in addition to a group of free air-to-surface missiles that work with eastern and western aircraft.

The AOI owns two helicopter overhaul centers and the aircraft factory provides Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) services for the “K-8E” aircraft, which is designed for training missions, he added.

Abdel Latif announced the establishment of a school for technological education in Egypt’s Helwan, in cooperation with the French company “Dassault Aviation”.