Egypt's Ministry of Civil Aviation launched on Tuesday its experimental operation of the New Administrative Capital Airport (NAC).

The civil aviation ministry explained during a press conference, held to launch the experimental operation at the new airport, that Egypt's flagship carrier EgyptAir has fully set up its facilities inside the airport.

Ministry officials added that EgyptAir has also opened duty-free shops in both the arrival and departure halls ahead of today's launch.

The event was attended by Civil Aviation Minister Younis El-Masry  and Tourism Minister Rania Al-Mashat.

A few days ago, officials from the civil aviation ministry toured the airport, including passenger terminals, passport counters, the duty-free zone, airstrips, and the watchtower.

Officials say the airport will promote tourism and alleviate the heavy traffic at Cairo International Airport.

It will also contribute to developing the Suez and Ain Sokhna ports, where logistic and industrial zones will be set up with the aim of turning the area into an international logistic and industrial hub.

The new airport is set to connect the areas of East Cairo, Sherouq and Badr cities, as well as the Suez Canal cities. The airport will be equipped with state-of-the-art technology, including security systems and x-ray machines for baggage inspection.

The airport will have the capacity to accommodate 300 passengers per hour, with 45 buildings around the place and a main terminal of over 5,000 square meters of space, which will help ease the load on Cairo International Airport.

It will also have eight parking lots, which can hold up to 500 cars and 20 buses. The airport is equipped to handle large planes, and was built with the intention of making it easy to expand its capacity in the future.  

President El-Sisi laid the first stone of the New Administrative Capital in July 2018.

With an area of 170,000 feddans, the new capital will include 20 residential areas expected to accommodate 6.5 million people and a 650km-long road network. The capital will include an international airport and an electric train to link it with the 10th of Ramadan and El-Salam cities. 

The New Administrative Capital is located in the area between the Cairo-Suez and Cairo-Ain Sokhna roads, east of the regional ring road. This is roughly 60km from the cities of Suez and Ain Sokhna.