Air Sinai

There are airlines you recognize by their livery – and there was Air Sinai, which you recognized precisely because it had none. For almost four decades the subsidiary of EgyptAir flew between Cairo and Tel Aviv, mostly with aircraft without a logo, without an airline name and without the Egyptian flag. This page explains why Air Sinai existed, which aircraft it used, how you can identify old shots and what became of the route.

Air Sinai at a glance

Air Sinai was an Egyptian airline based in Cairo and belonged entirely to EgyptAir. It was founded in 1982, and its hub was Cairo Airport. Its most important and, in the end, only task: the connection between Cairo and Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport.

Air Sinai is a historic airline today. In October 2021 EgyptAir took over the route under its own name, which made the subsidiary redundant. If you have an Air Sinai aircraft in your archive today, you therefore own a piece of aviation history that cannot be repeated.

Why Air Sinai existed in the first place

The story of Air Sinai begins not in an aircraft hangar but at the negotiating table. In 1979 Egypt and Israel signed their peace treaty. Part of the agreements was that both countries would establish normal civilian links – including regular flights between the main international airports.

For the Egyptian national airline this was a dilemma. Showing Israel openly in its own route network was politically sensitive in Egypt and in the Arab world. The solution was a separate company: Air Sinai took over the flights, and EgyptAir did not have to mention Tel Aviv in its schedules, on its route maps or on its website. According to English-language reference works, Air Sinai took over connections that had previously been flown by the company Nefertiti Aviation.

The result was an airline that officially existed but was barely visible in everyday life. The Canadian newspaper “The Globe and Mail” called the connection a “phantom flight” in 2011 and described Air Sinai as a separate division of EgyptAir that existed only for this route.

The history in stages

The early years

In its early years Air Sinai was still an airline with a face of its own. Besides the Tel Aviv route, it initially also flew charter flights, and in 1982 it additionally deployed a leased Boeing 707-320C on EgyptAir’s European routes, for example to Copenhagen. Shots from this early phase are especially appealing to collectors because the airline was not yet flying entirely in hiding.

The airline’s darkest chapter also dates from this time: on June 10, 1986, an Air Sinai Fokker F27 (registration SU-GAD) crashed on approach to Cairo in a sandstorm. The aircraft hit a building and caught fire; according to the German-language Wikipedia, 23 of the 26 people on board died.

Decades in hiding

From the 2000s on, Air Sinai became ever more invisible. There was no website of its own, no public schedule and for a long time no online booking. A reporter for the “Globe and Mail” reported in 2011 that he could only get his ticket through an intermediary, that his return flight in Cairo appeared on no departure monitor and that an airport employee first sent him to the wrong terminal. On board there were EgyptAir uniforms, EgyptAir napkins and EgyptAir magazines – only the flight number began with 4D.

According to the report, the fleet at the time consisted of a single older Boeing 737, white, without a logo and without a name, parked in a remote corner of Cairo Airport. Only from February 2020 could the flights be booked online through the website of a British travel provider.

Codes and callsign

• IATA code 4D: appeared in the flight number, so on the ticket and – if at all – on the departure board.
• ICAO code ASD: appeared in the air traffic control flight plan and on flight trackers.
• Callsign AIR SINAI: how the crew identified itself on the radio.

For spotters this was the most important clue. Because the aircraft itself revealed hardly anything, often the only help was a look at the tracker or the flight plan log: if it said ASD instead of MSR, Air Sinai was flying – even if the aircraft came from the EgyptAir fleet. How flight number and callsign are related is explained in the article on the difference between callsign and flight number; you can find more unusual radio names in the piece on airline callsigns and their history.

The fleet: borrowed, neutral, changing

Air Sinai never had a large fleet of its own. Most aircraft came from EgyptAir and were deployed as needed – a model reminiscent of a wet lease within the group. Over the years these types, among others, were in use:

Type	Period (approximate)	Spotter tip
Boeing 737-200	from 1982	First aircraft, leased from EgyptAir; slim engines under the wing
Fokker F27 Friendship	mid-1980s	High-wing turboprop, also for destinations within Egypt
Boeing 737-500	later	Short Classic 737 with the typically flattened engine inlets
Embraer 170	until 2019	Regional jet, in use until the switch to the A220
Airbus A220-300	December 2019 to May 2021	Two unmarked aircraft from the EgyptAir fleet

Most recently, according to English-language reference works, two unmarked A220s with the registrations SU-GFA and SU-GFD operated for Air Sinai; after their withdrawal in May 2021 they later flew for Nigeria’s Ibom Air. Exact fleet lists across all the decades hardly exist because the airline kept such a low profile.

How to recognize Air Sinai in old photos

Identifying Air Sinai is detective work. Depending on the era, different features help you.

The registration is your most important tool here. All Egyptian aircraft carry the prefix SU-. An unpainted aircraft with an SU- registration in Tel Aviv was a strong indication of Air Sinai for many years. How registrations are structured in general is explained in the article Understanding aircraft registrations. Right after that comes the context: place, date and flight number. Always note these details with archive photos, otherwise the shot can hardly be assigned unambiguously later. How to record this cleanly is shown in the guide on documenting sightings in a logbook, and how to organize old pictures in the post on archiving aircraft photos.

The end in 2021: EgyptAir flies itself

In September 2021 Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi met in Sharm el-Sheikh. On the same day, September 13, 2021, it became known that EgyptAir would take over the Tel Aviv route under its own name from October. On October 3, 2021, the first EgyptAir flight between Cairo and Tel Aviv then landed at Ben Gurion Airport – in full livery and with the Egyptian flag. Four flights per week were announced at launch.

With that, Air Sinai had served its purpose. The airline ceased operations, and the route moved into the regular EgyptAir schedule. A lot changed for spotters: the anonymous aircraft became a clearly recognizable EgyptAir jet that shows itself in full visibility in the Star Alliance.

How often EgyptAir flies between Cairo and Tel Aviv today depends heavily on the political and security situation in the region. Check the current schedule before every trip instead of relying on older information.

Air Sinai in comparison

Air Sinai was not the only airline on the route. The Israeli side also flew to Cairo at times: according to the “Globe and Mail,” El Al offered its own flights until spring 2011, after which Air Sinai remained the only direct connection for some time.

Feature	Air Sinai	EgyptAir
Status	historic, until 2021	active national airline
IATA / ICAO	4D / ASD	MS / MSR
Livery	mostly neutral, without logo	Horus head on the tail, Egyptian flag
Network	almost only Cairo–Tel Aviv	worldwide network from Cairo
Alliance	no membership of its own	Star Alliance since 2008

Besides EgyptAir, other Egyptian companies shape the picture in Cairo today, such as Air Cairo or Nile Air. There is no airline among them with a role as unusual as Air Sinai’s.

Spotting at the former Air Sinai airports

You can no longer photograph Air Sinai itself, but you can still photograph the airports. There are big differences between them.

Caution is especially advisable in Egypt. Photographing around airports is sensitive there and can quickly cause trouble with the authorities. What you should know before you take out your camera is explained in the article on photography bans in Egypt.

Common misunderstandings

• Thinking Air Sinai was an independent airline – it was entirely a subsidiary of EgyptAir and mostly flew its aircraft.
• Thinking every white aircraft with an SU- registration is Air Sinai – EgyptAir aircraft before or after a repaint could be unpainted too.
• Thinking Air Sinai was a leisure airline to Sinai – despite the name, the main route was Cairo–Tel Aviv.
• Believing Air Sinai still flies – operations ended in 2021; EgyptAir flies the route.
• Mixing up 4D and MS – 4D was the code of Air Sinai, MS is EgyptAir.

Conclusion

Air Sinai was one of the most unusual airlines in aviation history: founded as a consequence of a peace treaty, run as a discreet subsidiary of a national airline and, for almost four decades, operating aircraft that deliberately did not give themselves away. For spotters, that is exactly the appeal. If you have a photo of an Air Sinai aircraft with registration, place and date in your archive today, you own a real piece of contemporary history – and you can now follow the route quite openly with EgyptAir.