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Comment by throw93232 | Hacker News Reader

Such ghost flights are relatively common, for example from London

https://simpleflying.com/the-story-behind-london-heathrows-g...

This is quite different. The ghost flights you describe are empty flights, only flown with a skeleton crew to avoid losing an airport slot. The ghost airline in the article is one that flies actual paying passengers, but isn't advertised, has no markings, has (basically) no online presence, and isn't clearly listed on airport departure screens.

The article specifically says:

>Intriguingly, 2014 is also when Cairo International Airport and Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv began displaying the Air Sinai flight on their public check-in boards

Sounds similar to Janet, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_(airline) the non-existent airline that flies area 51 employees from Vegas.

Again, similar but different. Janet is private jets owned and run by a government which only people invited by that government can travel on.

Air Sinai is a regular passenger airline flying regular scheduled passenger flights available to the public using Egyptair staff and aircraft, just one which is only kept open for political purposes and isn't actively marketed [except, apparently by an overseas GSA] due to conflicting political sensitivities.

The way you describe it is almost like public transport or something. Do people have to pass security measures (no real mention of it in article)?

If you mean airport screenings, one presumes the usual pre-gate screenings.

If you mean visas and the like, also yes; to go from Egypt to Israel requires both an exit visa from Egypt and a tourist visa from Israel.

Minor correction: Egyptians (those traveling on a standard Egyptian passport) require those things, not every other traveler, according to the article. Most travelers require a visa to Israel except for the usual suspects [1], and I assume Egypt doesn't mandate exit visas for most if not all non-Egyptians.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_Israel

The Air Sinai flights aren't ghosts in that sense, they can be booked and do carry passengers, they're just very low key.

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