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Russian Transport Ministry experts to shortly head to Cairo to check airport security

If Russian specialists approve the level of passenger safety at the airport, the ministry will prepare a report for the Russian leadership

MOSCOW, August 29. /TASS/. At the invitation of Egypt, the Russian Transport Ministry will shortly send aviation specialists to check security at the Cairo airport, Transport Minster Maxim Sokolov told Rossiya 24 television on Monday.

"We have received an official notification saying that in their (Egyptian authorities’) view, the Cairo airport now fully meets the aviation safety requirements," he said, adding that a team of ministry experts would head there for checks in the first decade of September.

If Russian specialists approve the level of passenger safety at the airport, the ministry will prepare a report for the Russian leadership, he said.

Talks on restoration of air communication with Egypt have continued since the end of 2015. At the moment, country’s airports don’t fully comply with Russian demands for security.

Russia suspended air service with Egypt following the crash of a Russian A321 passenger jet in Sinai. It fell down 100 kilometers south of the administrative center of North Sinai Governorate, the city of Al-Arish. The plane was carrying 217 passengers and seven crew members. None survived.

In November 2015, it was announced that the crash had been caused by an act of terror committed by means of a home-made explosive device with a yield of up to one kilogram of TNT. The Russian transport minister said that air service will resume after Egypt fully ensures security at airports.

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