Russian experts have inspected the conditions for the resumption of air communication with Egyptian resorts, the final decision will be made by the government's operatives, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.
"Indeed, such inspection trips have taken place, our specialists have got acquainted with everything on the spot. After all the reports are made to the operational headquarters of the government, it is the headquarters that will make the corresponding decision," he said.
Peskov did not talk about the exact dates of resumption of air flights. "I do not undertake to anticipate. Dates are the prerogative of the operational staff," he said.
The arrival of a group of Russian experts for a monitoring inspection of international airports in Egypt's resort cities was reported to TASS on Sunday by the Egyptian Holding Company for Airport Management and Air Traffic Organization.
On the situation with flights to Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh
On April 23, Presidents Vladimir Putin and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of the two countries agreed on the resumption of air flights between Russian cities and the Red Sea resorts. In early May, the Russian Ambassador in Cairo Georgy Borisenko said that aviation authorities and security agencies should complete the whole range of necessary measures for the real restoration of air flights. However, the timing of flights, he then noted, largely depended on the situation with the coronavirus pandemic.
Air flights between Russia and Egypt were completely interrupted in November 2015 after the crash of a plane of the Russian company "Kogalymavia" flying from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg in Sinai. There were 217 passengers and seven crew members on board, all of whom died. The FSB qualified the incident as a terrorist attack.
In January 2018, Putin signed a decree resuming regular flights to Cairo, but charter flights to Egyptian resort areas are still closed. Over the years, the Egyptian side has improved the system of screening, control and inspection of passengers and luggage, as well as significantly upgraded the airport infrastructure.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS