Russia Lifts Ban on Charter Flights to Red Sea Resorts in Egypt

After six years of suspension, Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to lift the ban on charter flights to Egypt.

The flights were suspended for national security reasons in the aftermath of MetroJet plane taking Russian holidaymakers back from Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg broke up over the Sinai Peninsula in October 2015, killing 224 people.

Notably, Putin issued a 2015 decree banning Russian charter flights to Red Sea resorts in Egypt.

The decision ends a near six-year suspension of flights following a deadly Russian plane crash over Sinai in October 2015. According to TASS, the decision was published on an official.

In April, Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and his Russian counterpart agreed on the resumption of flights between Russia and Egypt’s Red Sea airports, including Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada.

Russia suspended direct flights to Red Sea resorts in Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh as well as other Egyptian airports following 2015.

Russia’s flight suspension to Red Sea resorts has taken a heavy toll on Egypt’s tourism industry – a key source of hard currency – since Russian visitors were major contributors to the tourism market in the country prior to 2015.

Since then, Egyptian authorities have upgraded all safety and security measures at all of the country's airports.

As a result, Russia resumed flights to Cairo International Airport in April 2018, ending a 30-month suspension, but did not resume flights to Egypt's Red Sea destinations.

Over the past several years, Russian aviation and security experts have repeatedly inspected safety measures at Egyptian airports, including Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada.