Some 140 tourists were on board the Boeing 737 aircraft arriving from the airport, which is located in Turkey’s north western city of Çorlu, anonymous sources at EgyptAir told Al-Ahram.

Celebrations took place at Dhmi Tekirdag Corlu Airport, as is the international tradition when the first flight or plane departs an airport, as passengers were received with flowers and sweets in the presence of Turkish officials.

The flight comes amid Egypt and Turkey’s recent efforts to improve relations. The two countries held two rounds of talks last year – the first held in Cairo in May, and the second in Ankara in September – headed by Egypt’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Hamdy Loza and his Turkish counterpart Sadat Onal.

According to joint statements following each round of talks, the discussions were “frank and in-depth,” and both countries agreed to continue engaging in exploratory talks in the future. This came after the relations had been strained – with no shared ambassadors – since the 2013 ouster of Egypt’s late Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, who was backed by the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The flight from Çorlu also came as part of the national carrier’s efforts to revive tourism and aviation between Egypt and the rest of the world.

Since 1 April, Egypt permitted issuing emergency tourist visas upon arrival at the Egyptian ports or electronically to over 180 nationalities, provided they have a valid visa on their passports for the United Kingdom, the US, Japan, New Zealand or Schengen countries, to encourage tourists from many different countries to visit Egypt.  

Moreover, amid dealing with global challenges, the Association of Tours Operators Russia (ATOR) announced that EgyptAir resumed its flights to Moscow’s Domodedovo after suspending its flights to Russia in early March due to “problems with insurance.”

Egypt’s parliament approved a law that allows the finance minister to provide EgyptAir with an insurance guarantee covering risks including wars or hijacking those flights to Russia might face.

EgyptAir is considered one of the world’s pioneers airlines. It was established in 1932 and joined the Star Alliance network in July 2008.