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Aeroflot, Egypt Air have not received fly permits to Egypt yet — watchdog

Russia's Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said in January that regular flights between Moscow and Cairo might resume in the middle of February.

MOSCOW, February 7. /TASS/.  Air carriers Aeroflot and Egypt Air have not received permits for flights between Moscow and Cairo from Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, head of the aviation watchdog Alexander Neradko said Wednesday.

"Not yet," he said when asked when the aviation service that was suspended in October 2015 after the jet crash over the Sinai Peninsula.

Media advisor to the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation Bassem Abdul Karim said earlier this week that Airlines EgyptAir and Aeroflot had received all permits for flights between Moscow and Cairo, starting from February 1. Russia's Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said in January that regular flights between Moscow and Cairo might resume in the middle of February.

Aeroflot plans to fly to the Egyptian capital from the Moscow based airport of Sheremetyevo twice a week - on Saturday and Wednesday. Egyptian national carrier EgyptAir plans to carry out three flights to the Russian capital via Domodedovo, another Moscow-based airport - on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on resuming flights between Russia and Egypt after a two-year-long pause on January 4.

All flights between the two countries were cancelled in November 2015 after the explosion of an A320 jet, belonging to the Russian carrier Metrojet, over the Sinai Peninsula on October 31, 2015, which occurred less than half an hour after takeoff from Sharm el-Sheikh international airport. The blast claimed the lives of all 217 passengers and seven crewmembers. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) later designated the incident as a terrorist attack. As a precondition for the resumption of flights, Russia called for considerably tightening security measures at Egyptian airports.