(AFP Photo/Charles Onians)
Hot air balloon rides in Luxor will resume on Thursday morning, confirmed President of the Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission (CARC) Mohamed Ibrahim Sherif.
The resumption comes two months after the death of 19 tourists onboard a balloon ride which resulted in the grounding of all hot air balloons.
Sky Cruise, the company responsible for the hot air balloon tragedy, will, however, not be allowed to resume its operations, while the Ultra Magic N-425 model hot air balloon within which the tourists were killed, will also be removed from the sector’s market until further investigations were launched into the causes of the accident.
He added that companies operating in Luxor’s hot air balloon sector would be subjected to a new set of mandatory conditions and logistical procedures ensuring their safety, and also pointed out that a committee composed of members of Egypt’s Ministry of Civil Aviation had also finished conducting searches and investigations into the safety and sound nature of the city’s hot air balloons, reviewing each company’s legal establishment contracts and training procedures for employees.
He further reiterated that the Sky Cruise company and its fleet of 25 Ultra Magic N-425 balloons would not be allowed to reenter the city’s market.
