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Russia to resume talks on charter flights to Egypt after 2018 FIFA World Cup — ministry

Russia’s Transport Ministry says the talks on opening charter flights to Egyptian resort cities will be resumed after the 2018 FIFA World Cup,

MOSCOW, June 21. /TASS/. The talks on opening charter flights to Egyptian resort cities will be resumed after the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Russia’s Transport Minister Yevgeny Ditrikh said on Thursday.

"All actions related to revision (of flights) to Egypt will be performed after the end of the FIFA World Cup in Russia," he said when asked a respective question.

According to Ditrikh, representatives of the country’s aviation ministry have visited Russia during the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Egyptian authorities said earlier this year that they expect charter flights between Russian cities and the Red Sea resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada to be resumed in the second half of 2018.

All flights between the two countries were cancelled in November 2015 after the explosion of Russia’s A320 jet over the Sinai Peninsula on October 31, less than half an hour after takeoff from Sharm el-Sheikh international airport. The terrorist attack claimed the lives of all 217 passengers and seven crewmembers. Russia demanded a considerable tightening of security measures at Egyptian airports as a precondition for the resumption of flights.

In mid-December 2017, Russia and Egypt signed an agreement on aviation security and a special protocol on restoring air service between the two countries. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the decree on resumption of scheduled flights to Cairo on January 4, 2018. Settlement of technical matters, including slots booking and schedule preparation, continued in two subsequent months.