The first commercial flight
between Egypt and Iran in 34
years took off on Saturday, the
latest step towards normalizing
ties broken following the 1979
Iranian Islamic revolution.
Egypt and Iran agreed to resume
direct flights in October 2010
before President Hosni Mubarak
was ousted from power, but no
flights were made.
"A flight by Air Memphis, owned by
Egyptian businessman Rami Lakah,
took off from Cairo to Tehran
earlier on Saturday carrying eight
Iranians including diplomats," one
airport official said adding that the
airline could later carry out more
tourist and business trips between
Egypt and Iran.
Diplomatic relations between Iran
and Egypt were cut in the
aftermath of the 1979 Islamic
revolution in Tehran when the
government in Cairo gave
sanctuary to the deposed shah.
But ties improved over the years,
and have become significantly
better since the election of Islamist
Mohamed Mursi as president of
Egypt in June 2012.
Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad visited Egypt in
February, the first visit by an
Iranian leader to Cairo in more
than three decades, and called for
a strategic alliance with Egypt and
offered a loan to the cash-strapped
Arab state.
Mursi visited Iran in August to
attend an international summit
where he initiated a quartet
committee that included Egypt,
Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia to
discuss ways to end the Syrian civil
war. Saudi Arabia later left the
group.

www.africaeagle.com/2013/03/first-commercial-flight-between-egypt.html?m=1