Senator: Flights to Egyptian Resorts to Fully Resume

By: Yassmine ElSayed

CAIRO, Feb. 28 (SEE) –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 announced.

His talk came during a meeting with Egyptian Ambassador Ihab Nasr, where he said that 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," Kosachev added.

Tass quoted Russian Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, in late January, saying that Moscow and Cairo were interested in resumption of charter flights from Russia to the resorts of Egypt as soon as possible but no deadline had been set for resolving this issue. The diplomat stressed that even in the absence of charter flights, a significant number of Russian tourists visit Egyptian resorts via third countries.

Russia demanded a considerable tightening of security measures at Egyptian airports as a precondition for the resumption of flights.

In mid-December 2017, Russia and Egypt signed an agreement on aviation security and a special protocol on restoring air service between the two countries.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the decree on resumption of scheduled flights to Cairo on January 4, 2018. The first flight was performed on April 11. Charter flights from Russia to Egyptian resort cities of Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada are still closed.