MOSCOW, November 17 /TASS/. Egypt wants to resolve all problems related to furnishing security for foreign tourists before the New Year season starts, Maya Lomidze, CEO of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR), told a news conference on Thursday.
She noted that "at the moment ATOR has no objective information (on the resumption of air flights to Egypt)." "I know that the Egyptians are growing more insistent on ironing out all security matters every day. The Egyptian side’s degree of motivation is increasing daily," Lomidze went on to say.
"The World Tourism Organization has even called on countries which send tourists to Egypt to speed up the resumption of air flights to Egypt. Apart from Russia, the call was also addressed to Germany, Britain, France and other European countries," the ATOR CEO said. "Every country has questions (for Egypt), and Egypt, in turn, is determined to resolve all problems before the start of the New Year season," Lomidze emphasized.
"Representatives of our Transport Ministry and our inspection teams, as far as I know, are planning to visit Egypt early in December," Lomidze concluded.
Russia suspended all flights to Egypt after an A321 Kogalymaiva passenger aircraft bound for St. Petersburg crashed over the Sinai Peninsula on October 31, 2015 killing 224 people onboard. The Russian Federal Security Service classified it as a terrorist attack.