Egypt’s Minister of Civil Aviation Sameh El-Hefny held a series of bilateral meetings with transport and aviation ministers and heads of civil aviation authorities from several Arab and African countries on the sidelines of the second edition of the El Alamein International Airshow (EIAS 2026).
The meetings focused on strengthening cooperation, increasing air traffic operations, and exchanging expertise across various civil aviation activities. The meetings were attended by Amr Nagati, Permanent Undersecretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation; Mohamed Rahma, Regional Director of the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Middle East Office; Reem Oraby, Egypt’s alternate representative to the ICAO Council; Mohamed Salah, Deputy Head of the Civil Aviation Authority for Air Safety; Salma El-Tahan, Head of the Air Transport Sector at the Civil Aviation Authority; and Lamia Sami, Director General of International Relations at the ministry.
El-Hefny began his meetings with Sheikh Hamoud Mubarak, Chairperson of Kuwait’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation, and his accompanying delegation. The two sides discussed areas of cooperation and exchanged views and expertise on a number of civil aviation-related issues.
El-Hefny stressed the importance of continued coordination between the relevant authorities in Egypt and Kuwait, highlighting the depth of bilateral relations and ongoing cooperation between the two countries.
Mubarak reaffirmed Kuwait’s keenness to continue cooperation and exchange expertise with Egypt across various civil aviation fields.
The Egyptian minister also met with Mohsen Ali Haidara Al-Omari, Yemen’s Minister of Transport and Aviation. Discussions covered air safety, air navigation, and training, as well as efforts to develop Yemen’s civil aviation system.
El-Hefny expressed the sector’s readiness to provide the necessary technical and training expertise to support the development of Yemen’s civil aviation system in line with international standards. The Yemeni minister welcomed the prospect of expanding cooperation and benefiting from Egyptian expertise across civil aviation activities.
In another meeting, El-Hefny discussed with Abdulkarim Abdu Haidar, Minister of State for Civil Aviation at Somalia’s Ministry of Transport, ways to increase air transport between Egypt and Somalia and support plans to develop Somalia’s civil aviation sector. The discussions also addressed the potential use of Egyptian expertise in infrastructure, operations, and training.
El-Hefny said Egyptian-Somali relations were developing steadily across various fields, particularly in light of the two countries’ leaderships’ interest in strengthening bilateral cooperation.
He underlined the importance of expanding air transport as a key channel for enhancing connectivity and exchanges between countries and peoples.
The Somali minister expressed appreciation for Egypt’s invitation to participate in EIAS 2026 and praised the organisation of the event and the hospitality extended to participating delegations. He also voiced Somalia’s interest in benefiting from Egyptian expertise in the planned construction of a new airport and increasing air traffic operations between the two countries in the coming period.
