The Positive And Negative Repercussions Of The State’s Tendencies Towards Privatizing Egyptian Airports

The tourism and travel industry, especially air transportation, is one of the most important service economic sectors that enhances the national economy directly and indirectly for many countries. Therefore, countries allocate a large portion of their financial budget to develop the infrastructure of current airports in order to enhance the quality of operational work at airports, accommodate the rapid growth in the number of travelers to tourist destinations, and provide high-level services to attract more international travelers, Therefore, there are trends by the Egyptian state towards privatizing 20 airports, including 4 new airports out of 23 airports that Egypt owns in terms of management and operation, not private sector ownership, with the aim of attracting 30 million tourists by 2028, In this regard, the study aims to identify the positive and negative repercussions of the state’s trends towards privatizing Egyptian airports. To achieve this, a descriptive approach was used. The study sample included officials from the Egyptian Ministries of Tourism and Antiquities and Civil Aviation, who numbered (150). The study tools included a questionnaire that was applied electronically, The results of the study concluded that the most important positives of airport privatization are improving the level of management and operation at airports and developing the Egyptian aviation sector based on the latest technological technologies to raise the level of quality and speed of services provided to travelers. One of the most important negatives of airport privatization is the possibility of the investor controlling the strategic decision due to weak oversight and accountability systems over the private sector, which affects Egyptian national security, The study recommends privatizing airports to the private sector with a B.O.T contract system for management and operation and not selling assets to support the Egyptian aviation sector and the resulting support for the tourism sector significantly.