Kremlin: Russian ban on flights to Egypt to remain for months
MOSCOW — As tens of thousands of Russian tourists hastily leave Egypt’s economically vital seaside resorts, a top Kremlin official issued an ominous warning Tuesday: They’re not coming back anytime soon.
Russia last week suspended all passenger flights to Egypt in the wake of the Oct. 31 airliner crash in the Sinai peninsula that killed all 224 people on board, almost all of them Russians. Moscow said the ban was necessary because of concerns about security at Egypt’s airports.
Russian officials say they haven’t determined whether a bomb brought down the plane as it flew from Sharm al-Sheikh toward St. Petersburg. But the flight ban and unspecified concerns about airport security suggest Russia takes the prospect exceptionally seriously.
On Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin’s chief of staff, Sergei Ivanov, said the flight ban will last for at least several months. Speaking on a visit to Finland, he said it would be impossible to radically revise Egypt’s security system in a short time, according to Russian news reports.
Ivanov said Egypt needs to improve its security regime not only in Sharm elSheikh, but also in airports in Cairo and the Red Sea resort of Hurghada.
Asked how long the Russian flight ban would last, Ivanov said: “I think for several months, as a minimum.”
It’s unclear whether Egypt’s tourist resorts, shops and restaurants can hold on that long, especially since the travel ban hits in the lucrative winter high season. Russians have accounted for about a third of all Egypt’s tourists in recent years.
U.S. and British officials have cited intelligence reports indicating that the plane was brought down by a bomb on board. Russia and Egypt said the statements were premature pending results of the official crash probe.
Security officials at Sharm el-Sheikh airport told The Associated Press there have long been security gaps there, including a key baggage scanning device that often is not functioning and lax searches at an entry gate for food and fuel for the planes.
The head of Cairo’s international airport, Maj. Gen. Ahmed Genina, said officials from Russia, the Netherlands, Italy, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar were examining the scanning of passengers, cargo and baggage at the airport Tuesday.
The Russian ban has badly struck Egypt’s vital tourist sector, which represents 11 percent of its economy and almost 20 percent of crucial foreign currency revenues.