Cairo: Russia will resume next month flights to Egypt’s well-known resorts of Hurghada and Sharm Al Sheikh after a halt of more than five years, an aviation official has said.
In October 2015, a Russian passenger plane crashed in Egypt’s Sinai shortly after take-off from Sharm Al Shaikh, killing all 224 on board.
The downing, claimed by the Daesh terrorist group, prompted Russia to halt direct flights to Egypt. Hurghada and Sharm Al Shaikh have been hard hit by the Russian ban.
In 2018, Egypt and Russia resumed flights between Cairo and Moscow, excluding charter flights to the Egyptian Red Sea resorts.
The head of Egypt’s Civil Aviation Authority Ashraf Neweir said the Russian authorities have agreed to resume flights to Hurghada and Sharm Al Sheikh. Two Russian flights per week will be operated to each resort, starting from March 28, the official added.
Neweir told Egypt’s semi-official newspaper Al Ahram that a 17-member security team from the Russian Transport Ministry recently inspected the airports of Hurghada and Sharm Al Sheikh and commended security measures in place there.
Russians accounted for 31 per cent of the 10 million tourists who visited Egypt in 2014, according to official figures.
