Anger after BA grounds all flights to Cairo for a week

Egypt’s aviation ministry issues strong words as airline stands by its security ‘precaution’

EGYPT has expressed its dismay after British Airways made a unilateral decision to suspend flights to the capital Cairo for a seven-day period.

Egypt’s aviation ministry made its anger clear after it emerged that the decision had been taken on the advice of an internal British Airways security audit, not an instruction from the UK’S intelligence services or the Department of Transport.

Egypt issued a strongly worded statement following a meeting with Britain’s ambassador to Egypt, Geoffrey Adams, condemning the British Airways decision and lack of co-ordination with Egyptian airport authorities.

The statement said the aviation minister, Younis Al-masry, “expressed his displeasure at British Airways taking a decision unilaterally concerning the security of Egyptian airports, without referring to the competent Egyptian authorities”.

British Airways sources confirmed it had taken the decision, which affects one flight a day, based on an internal assessment made by its security adviser, and indicated there were no immediate plans to change that decision.

In a statement, the airline attributed its cancellations to its constant review of security arrangements at all airports, describing them as “a precaution” to allow further assessment. “We would never operate an aircraft unless it was safe to do so,” it stated.

The German airline Lufthansa briefly suspended flights on Saturday but restarted them soon after. Other major carriers, including Air France, Emirates and Etihad, all confirmed yesterday that they were continuing to operate full schedules to Cairo.

The Egyptian government statement added that the UK ambassador had apologised for not informing Egyptian authorities before the decision was made and cited him as saying the flight suspension was not related to the security measures at Egyptian airports.

Tourism, a key source of foreign revenue for Egypt, has been recovering after visitor numbers dropped following 2011’s uprising and the 2015 bombing of a Russian jet, which killed all 224 people on board shortly after take-off. That attack prompted Russia to halt all flights to Egypt and a number of countries, including Britain, to stop flights to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh, which are yet to resume.

Meanwhile, some customers criticised British Airways for failing to arrange direct alternative flights after cancelling the service. Among those affected was a 51-year-old IT consultant from London, who gave only his first name, Ramy, who was trying to arrange an alternative flight for his elderly father in Cairo.

“They’ve offered him a flight to Frankfurt, but no idea what happens from there,” he said. “He is 80 years old, and we want a direct flight.”