The Egyptian goddess of protection, Serqet, is to welcome Egypt’s visitors at Cairo International Airport starting Thursday, when a replica statue of the deity will be erected in Terminal 2.

Amr El-Tibi, the executive director of the antiquities ministry's Antiquity Replicas Unit, told Ahram Online that the statue will be taken from the unit’s factory in Cairo’s Citadel to the airport on Thursday morning.

The statue is a gift from the antiquities ministry to the civil aviation ministry, El-Tibi said, in an attempt to encourage tourism as well as to highlight the ongoing cooperation between the two ministries, as well as the tourism ministry.

El-Tibi explained that the polyester statue is four metres tall, weighs 150kg, and took two months to make. It is made of polyester and depicts Serquet, one of the four protective ancient Egyptian deities who stretch their arms to protect Tutankhamun's golden shrine. She wears a scorpion on her head.

Last month the antiquities ministry offered Ecuador a replica statue of Ramses II, which is similar to the authentic one that was transported in 2006 from Ramses Square in downtown Cairo to the Grand Egyptian Museum overlooking Giza Plateau, which is yet to open.

The statue was erected in Quito's Condado Square which was subsequently renamed Egypt Square.

The replica statue of Serqet