Travellers from the English Midlands no longer need to trek to London for a flight to Egypt. EgyptAir began flying direct between Birmingham and Cairo on Sunday 25 October, making Birmingham the airline's third UK destination after London and Manchester.

The service runs four times a week — Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays — on Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. It was set up through an agreement signed with Birmingham Airport at the El Alamein International Airshow, and the inaugural flight was celebrated both onboard and with a reception at the airport.

For many travellers, the real value is what happens beyond Cairo. The route plugs Birmingham into EgyptAir's hub at Cairo International Airport, opening up one-stop connections across Africa, the Middle East and the Far East. So a trip that starts in the Midlands can end in Zanzibar — a destination EgyptAir added to its network in September 2026 — or anywhere from Nairobi to Bangkok without a second European layover.

The airline has been busy lately. It launched Manchester flights after announcing the route in June 2023, and it is mid-way through a fleet refresh, having taken delivery of its first Boeing 737 MAX in May under a leasing deal for 18 aircraft with SMBC Aviation Capital. EgyptAir executives framed the Birmingham launch as part of that wider push, citing passenger demand and Birmingham's status as an economic and industrial hub in central England. The route is expected to serve business travellers, tourists heading for Cairo's ancient sites, and the sizeable Egyptian community in the Midlands visiting family back home.

Why it matters: Birmingham is one of the UK's biggest cities and its airport serves millions of people who have historically faced a rail-or-drive trip to Heathrow for Egypt flights. A direct service shaves hours off the journey and, in theory, should put some competitive pressure on fares from the London airports. If you're in Coventry, Leicester, Nottingham or anywhere else within reach of Birmingham New Street, this is now the obvious way to get to the pyramids — or onward through Cairo to a much longer list of destinations.

The route also lands at a good moment for Egypt-bound tourism. Cairo remains the anchor for trips to Giza and the Egyptian Museum, but the country's Red Sea resorts and the reopened grandeur of Luxor and Aswan keep pulling visitors year-round, and easier access from a second UK gateway should widen that flow further.