Cairo International Airport recently announced that the development project is completed. The future home of EgyptAir, the new Terminal 3 building, which is more than double in area than terminals 1 and 2 combined, is set to be one of the biggest airport terminals in the Middle East and North Africa.

Passengers arriving at Cairo International Airport on EgyptAir, or any of its Star Alliance partners, will find world-class facilities, including tastefully decorated waiting and VIP halls, restaurants, cafés, and a wide range of retail outlets.

In terms of finding their way around, passengers won’t face any problems. The terminal consists of a three-storey main building, which houses the pre-security facilities for passengers and visitors; a three-storey concourse with amenities such as restaurants and shopping outlets for passengers only, and two ‘fingers’ containing the departure/arrival gates. Color coded signage and floor markings help passengers navigate the facility, while a total of 160 elevators, escalators, and moving walkways make the building accessible to all passengers, including those with special needs.

“There are 80 check-in counters for EgyptAir passengers,” says Tawfik Assy, chairman of EgyptAir Holding Company “and the extensive area for duty-free shops will allow us to display more diverse goods, including the luxury items that we were previously unable to offer out guests in terminals 1 and 2.”

EgyptAir’s move to Terminal 3 is one of the factors that helped the company gain its membership in the Star Alliance, the world’s largest civil aviation alliance. The Alliance’s “move under one roof” concept encourages member airlines to be collocated in the same terminal, facilitating transit experiences by reducing transfer time for people and baggage to 45 minutes, whether the flights are international or domestic.

The target set for the new building is to welcome more than 11 million passengers a year - doubling the current capacity of the other two existing terminals, which represents 9 million passengers. Cairo International Airport may undergo additional developments within the forthcoming years, and its capacity could increase to 50 million passengers a year over the next 30 years. The official inauguration of Terminal 3 will take place in early 2009.