Russia to Cairo direct flights resume

Russia and Egypt yesterday resumed direct flights after a hiatus caused by a bomb downing a Russian charter flight over the Sinai Peninsula in 2015.

Moscow officials stopped direct flights citing security concerns after the attack, in a blow for the Egyptian economy, which relies heavily on tourism and had been a popular destination for Russians.

Last night, an Aeroflot plane was due to take off from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport to Cairo, in a first step towards restoring flights to holiday destinations on the Red Sea.

Today, Egyptair will restart its service between the two capitals, and the two companies will together offer five return flights between Moscow and Cairo a week.

But the move will not immediately help Egypt’s tourism sector, Russian officials said.

“Tourists do not need direct flights to Cairo. The transfer from Cairo to sea resorts is long and uncomfortable, and no one will be going there in that way,” Russian Tourism Industry spokeswoman Irina Tyurina said.

“In practice, the situation is the same as it was before, when people would get there independently via Minsk or Istanbul – either big fans of Egypt or Russians who live there. Egypt is not yet back as a tourist destination for the Russian market.”

Flights were suspended at the end of 2015 after a bomb exploded on a flight carrying holidaymakers from the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh, killing all 224 people on board, mostly Russian tourists. The attack was claimed by ISIS.

The number of foreign tourists in Egypt went from 14.7 million in 2010 to 5.4 million in 2016, caused by the suspension of flights and the turmoil after the uprising that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak.

Last year, that number recovered to 8.3 million, according to figures. Revenues from tourism at the same time fell from US$11.6 billion (Dh42.6bn) in 2010 to $3.8bn in 2016, the Egyptian Central Bank said.

Moscow and Cairo are to decide on a date to discuss the resumption of flights to Egyptian destinations when flights between the capitals have resumed, said Ihab Nasr, the Egyptian ambassador to Russia.

Russian officials have not hidden their concerns about direct flights being restarted.

“The resumption of direct flights to Egypt, in particular to resort areas, is a great worry for us,” said Aleksandr Neradko, head of the Russian Federal Air Navigation Authority.