ST.PETERSBURG, June 2. / TASS /. Moscow expects that charter flights to Egyptian resorts will be resumed in the near future, some details are left to be worked out, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov on Wednesday on the sidelines of the SPIEF.
"The work continues, [there are] finishing touches, because the decision, as you know, was made, this was announced at the highest level. So now there are just some details left, including those related to coronavirus restrictions," Bogdanov said. "And so, of course, I hope that in the near future, our tourists will fly to Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada. " He recalled that now there are flights from Russia to Cairo. "From there, our tourists go to Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada. But, of course, it would be convenient for everyone to have direct flights, not only from Moscow but also from other Russian cities," he said.
On April 23, the presidents of the two countries, Vladimir Putin and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, agreed to resume flights between Russian cities and the Red Sea resorts. In early May, the Russian ambassador to Cairo, Georgy Borisenko, announced that the aviation authorities and security agencies must complete the entire range of necessary measures for the real restoration of air traffic. Air traffic between the Russian Federation and Egypt was completely interrupted in November 2015 after the crash on the Sinai plane of the Russian company Kogalymavia flying from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. There were 217 passengers and seven crew members on board, all of whom were killed in the crash. The FSB qualified the incident as a terrorist attack. In January 2018, Putin signed a decree to resume regular air travel to Cairo, but charter flights to Egyptian resort areas are still closed. Over the past years, the Egyptian side has improved the system of inspection, control and inspection of passengers and baggage, as well as significantly modernized the infrastructure of the airports.