Egypt Ambassador to UK Called Upon Authorities to Resume Direct Flights to Sharm El Sheikh

By: Yassmine ElSayed

CAIRO, Jan. 12 (SEE) - Egyptian Ambassador to the UK called upon the British authorities to resume direct flights from Britain to Sharm el-Sheikh.

Tarek Adel told BBC that Egypt had finished working with British security teams to upgrade its airports and was ready to welcome flights again.

"British direct flights to Sharm el-Sheikh have been suspended since November 2015 and since that date we have been working very closely with British technical and security teams to upgrade many of the facilities in Egyptian airports in general and Sharm el-Sheikh in particular," Mr Adel said.

Sharm el-Sheikh previously attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors from the UK each year, making it an important resort for airlines and holiday companies.

The Egyptian ambassador told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he hoped the UK government would decide to resume flights soon.

"We have concluded the work in this regard and which was in close co-ordination with the British technical teams and we are set to be ready to receive once again direct flights from Britain."

According to the Foreign Office, about 900,000 Britons travelled to Egypt in 2015. In 2016, that number dropped to 231,000.