Russian flights to Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada airports to resume by end of February, sources close to Egyptian Civil Aviation have told Daily News Egypt.
In late January, a Russian security delegation inspected Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada airports in preparation for the resumption of Russian flights to Egypt.
During their visit, the delegation followed up on security and safety procedures carried out in travel and arrival halls to protect travellers from the risk of coronavirus infection.
The sources revealed that the Egyptian airports have implemented the latest safety standards according to international aviation organizations.
More importantly, Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada airports security systems had been thoroughly improved, and airports had passed European and American inspections recently, with many companies making plans to fly to Egyptian airports, the sources added.
Following an almost three-year ban and intensive rounds of negotiations, the Russian national carrier Aeroflot resumed flights to Cairo in April 2018. The ban, which started in October 2015 following the explosion of a bomb on a Russian plane over Sharm Al-Sheikh, harmed the Egyptian tourism industry. Previously, Egypt used to receive millions of Russian tourists every year.
Although direct flights between Moscow and Cairo were resumed in April 2018, Red Sea resorts have remained closed to Russian charter flights.
In late 2020, Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry met with Russian Minister of Industry and Commerce Denis Manturov in Moscow to discuss boosting relations between the two countries.
Shoukry expressed Egypt’s aspiration to resume charter flights from Russia to Red Sea resort cities of Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada in Egypt, especially after the recent developments carried out by Egyptian airports in terms of security measures.
