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Flights between Moscow and Cairo may start in mid-February

Moscow suspended air service with Egypt in November 2015

© AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell

MOSCOW, January 11. /TASS/. Regular flights between Moscow and Cairo may start in mid-February, Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov told reporters.

"As I said, it will take about a month and a half after the signing of the decree (by the president - TASS.) to open the air service and to sign relevant contracts with the airport of Cairo, with the handling companies, to relaunch the representative office of Aeroflot. Accordingly, this (the start of flights - TASS) is approximately mid-February," Sokolov said.

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Earlier, some media, referring to the data of timetables at the airports of Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo, reported that the flights between Russia and Egypt will resume on February 1. The press service of Sheremetyevo said that it is too early to confirm the fact of the flights from the airport.

At the same time, Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo airports are in talks with the Egyptian airline EgyptAir on the sale of slots (the time interval, during which the airport receives and services the aircraft) for flights from Moscow to Cairo.

On January 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on resuming regular air services to Cairo.

However, the only Russian carrier that previously performed flights to Cairo, Aeroflot, has not started selling tickets to Egypt yet. A source close to Aeroflot told TASS that the company also requested slots for flights from Sheremetyevo.

Moscow suspended air service with Egypt in November 2015 after a terrorist attack on board an A321 jet from Russia’s air carrier Kogalymavia that was en route from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt to Russia’s St. Petersburg. The passenger airliner crashed over the Sinai Peninsula early on October 31. All 224 people onboard, including 217 passengers and the seven-member crew, were killed. To resume air services, Russia demanded tighter security measures from Egypt.

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