Review of Egyptair flight from Cairo to London in Economy

MS777 / CAI-LHR

Good morning from Cairo International Airport, Egypt. Today’s report covers the next and final flight of my trip in summer 2024. I’ve just made my way through the trenches of this awful airport to get to my gate, after being dropped off at the terminal by a bus, disembarking an EgyptAir 737-800. Report available on my profile.
After joining the multiple other transiting passengers, we found our way up a small staircase to enter the airport’s departure hall — not very well communicated or signposted. 
As standard in Cairo Airport, security is at the gate, with passengers for two flights departing from neighbouring gates lining up together, removing belts, jackets, shoes, etc. After the long security line, I’m into the gate. While waiting for boarding to start, I try to connect to the airport WiFi, supported by Orange Network, common in this part of the world. However, as usual, the WiFi doesn’t work for me, although it does work for my travel companion, who is using Android — potentially why theirs works?
A couple of other avgeeks are standing by the large porthole-style windows at the airport, which can actually be opened by passengers (very typical for Egypt with limited security measures).
Anyway, boarding is called and the line forms down the jetbridge to our aircraft, a 13-year-old Boeing 777-300ER, registered SU-GDO. Once on board, I find my seat — 30K.

Very typical seat for EgyptAir, with such an old and ageing fleet. However, I’m glad I was able to experience their new aircraft, flying from LHR to Cairo on their new A320neo. (Report available on my profile.)

The seat itself isn’t too clean and isn’t in good shape. The age is very apparent, with features such as an ethernet port on the side. And of course, just my luck — the remote is missing from the seat.

The IFE is another ancient system. It’s very unresponsive, with a lot of glare, as well as being very dim — making it difficult to watch any of the movies from the already lacking selection. 

We taxied and departed from runway 05C at Cairo, banking left over the Nile Delta, with a sudden and sharp change between the sandy desert and the green, luscious farmland fed by the river. Cabin crew were not at all attentive, as we took off without a final cabin inspection, leaving overhead bins containing bags wide open. It’s really not that difficult to do a walkthrough, even with one or two members of cabin crew.

Lunch was served over the Mediterranean, with a beef and rice dish, served with the iconic mango juice, bread, and cake.

Here’s a little cabin overview, taken after visiting the bathroom. The cabin itself looks fine in a general view, but individual inspection shows that it is a very lacking cabin.

Thankfully, blankets and pillows were provided at most seats — a nice luxury for even a short flight.

This flight was quite empty, with many middle rows of the aircraft being completely empty, becoming beds for tired travellers. 

I attempted to watch the original Batman movie on this flight, but the IFE was simply too dim, with too much glare on the screen. Instead, I settled for watching Top Gun, downloaded on my phone from Netflix — a lifesaver thanks to Netflix’s auto-downloads. 

Due to high traffic at LHR, we were put into holding patterns, making a couple of loops over southern London, joined by a Delta Airlines A339 circling around with us, in a Top Gun-style spin to the ground (although we pulled out first 😂). We descended over a grey, miserable London — quite a change from the sunny, hot Middle East. Touching down on runway 27R at LHR, we taxied across to T2, one of the satellite terminals, though I’m not sure which one. 

Getting into LHR, passing through security and passport control, before having to wait a ridiculously  long time for our baggage.

Getting off the plane was smooth and easy. Entering LHR, we passed through security and passport control before having to wait a ridiculously long time for our baggage. Overall, it was an alright flight. I prefer flying widebodies, but if I ever flew with MS again, I would probably opt for the nicer, modern A320neo.