Putin allows resumption of Moscow-Cairo flights
Russian President Vladimir Putin has authorized the resumption of regular Russian airline flights to the Egyptian capital of Cairo after over two years of a hiatus caused by security concerns.
The Russian government published a document on its website on Thursday announcing that President Putin’s clearance for flights is due to take effect from January 2, although it gave no timeline for the actual resumption of the service.
In November 2015, Russia banned air traffic with Egypt following an explosion on a Russian airplane that killed 224 passengers en route from Cairo to Moscow.
In December 2017, however, Russia’s Minister for Transport Maksim Sokolov and Egyptian Minister of Civil Aviation Sherif Fathy signed an agreement in Moscow to resume regular flights between the Russian and Egyptian capitals, pending Putin’s approval.
According to Egyptian airport sources, flights would resume first between Cairo and Moscow in February. Later in April, negotiations about restoring flights to the Red Sea resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada, popular with Russian tourists, will reportedly proceed.
“The resumption of flights between Russia and Cairo is a very good sign, giving hope that charter flights to the Red Sea resorts will be possible soon,” the head of Russia’s tour operators association, Maya Lomidze, said.
While Egyptian leaders have often been on good terms with Moscow, the 2015 explosion caused security concerns that Moscow believed could not be overlooked. And Russia’s suspension of flight services dealt a heavy blow to Egypt’s tourism industry, a major source of its hard currency reserves.
In November, Russia and Egypt drafted a deal under which Russian and Egyptian military aircraft would be allowed to fly in each other’s air space and use one another’s airfields by giving a five-day advance notice.
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