Russian team checks Egyptian airports to decide on flight resumption

CAIRO – 23 January 2020: A Russian delegation has checked security measures at the airports of Egyptian South Sinai’s Sharm Al-Sheikh, and the Red Sea’s Hurghada, two of the most significant tourist attractions in Egypt.

The delegation is set to finish its mission on Friday, as it has been checking airports for three consecutive days.

The delegation is set to hold a meeting with officials of the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation, in preparation for issuing the final report on the resumption of air traffic and tourism between Egypt and Russia.

The Russian delegation has reviewed the latest security and safety procedures in terminals, baggage inspection, and has checked the presence of security personnel in their places at each of the two airports.

The delegation also checked the procedures of inspecting passengers, securing the preparation and the serving of meals, as well as following up the airport fences, and surveillance cameras.

In November 2015, Russia had suspended all passenger flights to Egypt a week after a crash of a Russian Metrojet Airbus that killed all 224 aboard in the Sinai Peninsula.

Also, in December, British Ambassador to Egypt Geoffrey Adams has celebrated the arrival of the first direct flight from Britain to South Sinai’s Sharm el-Sheikh after a similar ban due to the same incident.

“The British Embassy team was at Sharm el Sheikh airport this evening to welcome a direct flight from the UK,” Adams wrote on his Twitter account.

A total of 110 British tourists arrived in Sharm el-Sheikh Thursday aboard the first direct flight from London in four years.