Global Airport News

Thousands of foreigners were scrambling to fly out of  Cairo airport on Wednesday as protesters rallied for a ninth day to reject Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's timetable for quitting.

China, Japan, Canada, Britain and Turkey have all announced extra flights to the country to evacuate their nationals over the last couple of days.

"The airport is in a state of pandemonium; all airlines are struggling to gain landing and takeoff slots," said Mark Briffa, chief executive of Air Partner, an air charter provider.

"The reality is there is not enough spare capacity on commercial airlines to fly the vast number of people who are trying to get out of Egypt at the moment, and some airlines are intermittently suspending flights to and from Cairo, further reducing capacity," he said in an emailed statement.

On Wednesday the UK government said nationals wishing to take advantage of its charter flight to London will pay GBP£300 (USD$490) per seat.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said the fare was in line with a standard single fare, and similar to the amount being charged by the United States, Canada and a handful of others.

"It is not an ordered evacuation because commercial flights are available," the spokesman said. "The flight is simply to supplement existing capacity."

The overnight curfew has also hit capacity, with some airlines, including Germany's Lufthansa, bringing forward flight times and switching to jumbo jets to meet demand.