Egypt's Clocks Go Back an Hour on 30 October — Check Your Flight and Pickup Times

Egypt's clocks go back an hour at the end of Thursday 29 October, closing daylight saving time and starting winter time on Friday 30 October, according to Egypt Independent, in an edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm.

The switch is made by setting the clock back a full 60 minutes at the moment the change falls: at midnight ending Thursday 29 October, the time shifts from 12:00am back to 11:00pm. Counted from 25 September, the report said about 35 days remained until the change.

Three dates matter this autumn:

• 25 September — winter closing times for public shops, restaurants and cafés came into effect
• 29 October — daylight saving time ends at the close of the day
• 30 October — winter time begins

Egypt applies daylight saving time each year from the last Friday of April until the end of the last Thursday of October, the report says. The system is meant to make fuller use of daylight through the summer months, and forms part of measures to rationalise energy consumption and reduce electricity and fuel use at particular times of day.

The official time governs working hours, school schedules and public transport, according to the report. The trading-hours change that took effect on 25 September is a separate measure; this site reported it when bazaars and restaurants were told to close at midnight under the new winter rules.

For anyone on this coast, the practical point is the date. Anything set by local time from Friday 30 October onwards — flights out of Hurghada and Marsa Alam, airport transfers, dive boat and excursion pickups — runs on the new clock, an hour behind the one in use now. The report gives no guidance specific to the Red Sea Governorate, and does not say how the shift lines up with clock changes in visitors' home countries.