Egypt’s Red Sea resort cities of Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh received, on Wednesday, two planes from the Ukrainian Capital, Kyiv.
The commercial flights are the first to arrive in Egypt as international aviation resumed in and out of the country on 1 July, after a hiatus of nearly three months, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
In a press statement on Wednesday, the ministry said the plane that landed in Hurghada was carrying 173 Ukrainian tourists, while the plane that landed in Sharm El-Sheikh was carrying 124 passengers.
The ministry and the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Board welcomed the incoming tourists with flowers and souvenirs.
“Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh are scheduled to receive several tourism delegations from a number of countries, including Ukraine, Switzerland and Belarus, in the next few days,” the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said.
Egypt suspended international flights at all its airports on 19 March, as the country took a range of precautionary measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Domestic flights at the country’s airports remained ongoing, alongside freight and special repatriation flights for Egyptian nationals stranded abroad.
In mid-June, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the full health safety controls and requirements for the resumption of Egypt’s tourism in Arabic and English. These regulations will be applied in all types of hotel and tourist establishments, airports, Egyptian airlines, archaeological sites, museums and various tourist activities.
