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Resumption of flights to Egyptian resorts to benefit Aeroflot — CEO

On April 23, Russian president and his Egyptian counterpart agreed on the resumption of air links between Russian cities and Red Sea resorts

ST. PETERSURG, June 4. /TASS/. The resumption of flights to Egypt’s health resorts Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada will benefit Aeroflot, the company’s CEO, Mikhail Poluboyarinov, told TASS at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

"Of course, major tourist destinations are the basis. Possibly, Egypt will reopen now. This is a route with vast potential. It will help the company a great deal," he said.

Flights to Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh

On April 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi agreed on the resumption of air links between Russian cities and Red Sea resorts. At the beginning of May Russia’s ambassador in Cairo, Georgy Borisenko, said the aviation authorities and security agencies were to complete the whole package of measures for the restoration of air traffic. However, he added that the date when the flights might resume largely depended on the novel coronavirus pandemic.

All flights between Russia and Egypt were stopped in November 2015 after the explosion of a Kogalymavia passenger plane, en route from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg over the Sinai Peninsula. There were 217 passengers and seven crew on board. Nobody survived. Russia’s Federal Security Service FSB qualified the incident as a terrorist attack.

In January 2018, Putin signed a decree on the resumption of regular flights to Cairo, but charter flights to Egyptian tourist resorts remain suspended. Over the past few years, Egypt has considerably improved the system of passenger and luggage checks and upgraded airport infrastructure.

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, organized by Roscongress Foundation, is being held on June 2-5. This year’s theme is Together again - Economy of New Reality.

The forum’s business program includes discussions on small and medium business, healthy life, drug security, and a special youth section SPIEF Junior. The forum is being held online with all epidemiological precautions observed. TASS is the information partner and the official photo hosting agency of the forum.

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