19 European Flights Land at Marsa Alam Airport on Tuesday, Carrying Thousands of Holidaymakers

Marsa Alam International Airport handled 19 inbound international flights from European airports on Tuesday 20 October, carrying thousands of tourists of different nationalities, the Egyptian tourism trade outlet Tourism Daily News reported.

The outlet described the day's traffic as a sign that arrivals to Marsa Alam are holding up, and said the town has established itself among the destinations favoured by visitors who come for quiet beaches, diving and reef trips.

Who feels it on this stretch of coast

Tourism Daily News said the effect of a day like this reaches past the arrivals hall:

• hotels and resorts, where regular scheduled and charter traffic is what holds occupancy up
• dive centres, boat-trip operators and tourist transport companies
• restaurants and local services that live on visitor spending across the length of a stay

The outlet also said staff at Marsa Alam International Airport are continuing to work on speeding up arrival formalities and smoothing the flow of incoming passengers, so that waiting times at the terminal are shorter.

What the figure does not tell you

The report gives a flight count and nothing more. It does not name the European airports or airlines involved, does not break the arrivals down by market, and carries no hotel occupancy rate, room price or average-spend figure. Treat it as one day's arrival traffic rather than a measure of how the season is selling.

The report carries the byline of Marwa El-Sharif. We have not seen an airport or Ministry of Tourism statement confirming the same count.