Russia may fully resume flights to Egyptian resorts soon, senator says

MOSCOW, Feb 26 (MENA) - Flights from Russia to popular Egyptian resorts may be fully resumed in the near future, Russian Federation Council (the upper house of parliament) Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachev said at a meeting with Egyptian Ambassador Ihab Nasr on Tuesday.

Kosachev said: "Now the flights, at least en route from Moscow to Cairo, have been fully resumed. As for other popular routes, we are close to also resuming these routes in full in accordance with the sides’ interests," the Russian news agency Tass reported Tuesday.

In late January, Russian Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told reporters that Moscow and Cairo were interested in resumption of charter flights from Russia to the resorts of Egypt as soon as possible. The diplomat stressed that even in the absence of charter flights, a significant number of Russian tourists visit Egyptian resorts via third countries.

All flights between the two countries were cancelled in November 2015 after the explosion of Russia’s A320 jet over the Sinai Peninsula on October 31, less than half an hour after takeoff from Sharm el-Sheikh international airport. The blast claimed the lives of all 217 passengers and seven crewmembers.