Moscow hopes to resume flights between Russian cities and Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada resorts in the coming months, Russian Ambassador to Egypt Georgy Borisenko said on Monday.
Regular flights from Russia to Cairo were restored in April 2018 after a break since November 2015 due to the crash of a Russian airliner over the Sinai Peninsula. Egyptian resorts are still closed to charters from Russia. On April 23, Egypt's presidential press service reported that Cairo and Moscow had agreed on a full resumption of air service. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to RIA Novosti the agreement between Russian and Egyptian leaders on the resumption of flights between the resorts of Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh and Russia.
"Now it is necessary for the aviation authorities and security agencies to complete the entire set of necessary measures for the real resumption of air traffic. Guided by the instructions of the presidents of Russia and Egypt, the aviation and security authorities are already working on this issue. We hope that air service will be restored in the coming months," the ambassador said during a press conference in Hurghada.
"We can see that Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh airports have done a lot of work to improve security measures," the diplomat stressed.
He noted that the situation with the coronavirus pandemic must also be taken into account. According to the ambassador, the epidemiological situation in Egypt is stable.
"We know that most of the tourism workers in Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh have already received at least their first vaccination against coronavirus," the ambassador said. He noted that the coronavirus situation can be unpredictable, and cited the example of India, where there was a sharp outbreak of disease. "Therefore, the issue of resuming flights will depend, among other things, on the pandemic situation," Borysenko said.
"Nevertheless, we hope that Russian planes will soon be able to fly to Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh. Russian citizens are very much looking forward to this opportunity, to the moment when they can enjoy the beautiful Egyptian sun and the Red Sea," Borisenko said.
The ambassador held a meeting in Hurghada with Amr Hanafi, governor of the Red Sea province. According to the ambassador, he discussed with Hanafi cooperation with the Egyptian province in various spheres, not only in tourism.
The ambassador recalled that Russian inspectors had repeatedly visited Hurghada airport with inspections. "According to the results of these visits they made certain remarks, but as far as I know, at the moment all remarks made by Russian specialists have been eliminated," the ambassador said.
"We hope that Hurghada airport is fully prepared to receive Russian tourists, including in terms of protection measures against coronavirus infection," Borisenko said.
Several delegations of Russian aviation security specialists have inspected Egypt's resort airports, the last ending in early February.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from RIA Novosti