Mass exodus brings chaos to Cairo airport

Nerves are frayed and shouting and shoving matches erupt as thousands cram into Cairo airport's new Terminal 3 seeking a flight home.

The airport's departures board have stopped announcing flight times in an attempt to reduce the tension - but the plan backfires, fuelling passengers' anger.

Making matters worse, check-in counters are poorly staffed because many EgyptAir employees have been unable to get to work due to a 3pm-to-8am curfew and traffic breakdowns across the Egyptian capital.

"It's an absolute zoo, what a mess," Justine Khanzadian, 23, a graduate student from the American University of Cairo, said.

"I decided to leave because of the protests; the government here is just not stable enough to stay."

Food was scarce at the airport, with people buying up chocolate in the duty free shop. Airport staff shouted at travellers to get in line, but many were in no mood to listen. The scheduling board listed flight numbers without destinations or times of departure.

Occasionally, an official emerged and shouted out the destination of a departing flight, triggering a rush of passengers with boarding passes. The process worked smoothly for nationals of countries that had sent planes - Denmark, Germany, China, Canada - others had no such support.

By curfew time, some people had boarded buses for the ride back into Cairo.

The State Department said more than 2400 Americans had contacted US officials seeking government-chartered evacuation flights from Egypt. More than 220 had left.

EgyptAir resumed its flights on Monday morning from Cairo after a roughly 14-hour break because of the curfew and its inability to field enough crew.

Over 20 hours, only 26 of about 126 EgyptAir flights operated, airport officials said.

Greek oil worker Markos Loukogiannakis, who arrived in Athens on a flight carrying 181 passengers, said confusion reigned at Cairo airport and travellers had to negotiate a string of checkpoints just to get there.

"In a 22-km route from our suburb to the airport, we had to get through 19 checkpoints, including nine manned by civilians," he said.

He said security had deteriorated sharply over the past three days in Cairo after police withdrew from the streets.

"There was a wave of attacks by criminal elements who engaged in burglaries and wrecked shops and banks. There was a lot of shooting and residents took up the burden of protecting their property," he said.

In a geopolitical shift, even Iraq decided it would evacuate its citizens, sending three planes to Egypt - including the prime minister's plane - to bring home for free those who wish to return. Thousands of Iraqis had once fled to Egypt to escape violence in their country.