The recent terrorist events in the Arab region and in the French capital Paris on Friday will limit Air Cairo’s expected revenue growth during the current year to 15%, said Chairman Yasser El-Ramly.

The company’s revenues over the past year amounted to $100m, and occupancy rates on its flights to Europe ranged between 50% and 60%, while they recorded 70% on flights to the Arab region.

El-Ramly said the decline of the expected growth rate to 15% will reduce the company’s revenues. He, however, refused to disclose his expectations about that reduction.

Air Cairo plans to fly two trips per week from the cities of Qassim, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh.

Head of the Tourism Activation Authority Samy Mahmoud told Daily News Egypt that there will coordination with EgyptAir to increase the number of flights to some Arab countries to deal with the Russian airliner downing.

Arab arrivals account for about 20% of the annual tourist flow to Egypt, according to the Ministry of Tourism.

El-Ramly said the terrorist atatcks in Paris will decrease demand not only on Egypt but for all the Middle East, as terrorists and Islam will be linked.

Air Cairo has a fleet of seven aircrafts of different models. El-Ramly said the company intends to increase the fleet to include 20 aircrafts by 2020.

“We will resort to operational leasing to get 50% of the target fleet, while the remainder will be through purchasing,” he added.

Air Cairo is an Egyptian private airline that is headquartered in Cairo Airport. EgyptAir owns 40% of the company’s capital, while the remainder of the capital is owned by Kato Group. The company was established to meet the demand on flights to some European countries and the Arab East.