Russian delegation continues inspections at Cairo Airport

CAIRO - 26 July 2017: High level Russian delegation started on Wednesday inspecting the new security measures at Cairo International Airport.

The delegation arrived in Cairo on Monday for a three-day tour upon the invitation of the Egyptian side to check the new security measures taken at Cairo Airport especially that the pre-flight security check of passengers, goods and aircrafts.

This came as part of series of visits by the delegation to ensure flights’ safet , as agreed in a joint Egypt-Russia aviation security protocol for the resumption of flights between Egypt and Russia. This is not the first inspection round, but it is seen as "the most important because it will determine the resumption of Russian flights to Egypt,” state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper reported.

Al-Ahram further quoted sources accompanying the delegation during the inspection, as confirming that “the procedures at Cairo Airport have reached excellent rates and the airport authorities received the compliments of international security delegations after inspection of Cairo airport during the past weeks by U.S. and British delegations and other United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committees."

The inspection will take place at Terminal 2 of the Cairo International Airport as it is expected to host flights between Cairo and Moscow after the resumption of their flights.
Recently, the Egyptian Airports Company announced that Egypt had completed the installation of biometric devices in Terminal 2 for airport workers. This was suggested by the Russian side, according to the Russian news agency Sputnik.

Flights between Egypt and Russia were suspended following the crash of the Russian plane in the Sinai Peninsula on October 31, 2015, leaving 224 passengers killed. After the airplane crash other countries have suspended their flights to Egypt, but resumed them later.

Egypt has made a number of upgrades and modifications to the security measures at the airport, but still negotiations on the resumption of flights are going on between both sides. The Russian plane incident was identified by President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi as terror attack.