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Aeroflot registers feverish demand for tickets to Cairo after announcing flight resumption

Over the last 24 hours since the launch of sales of flights to Cairo more than 1,245 seats have been booked

MOSCOW, March 14. /TASS/. Russia’s flagship carrier Aeroflot registered feverish demand for tickets to Cairo after the resumption of flights to that destination was announced, a spokesperson with the airline told TASS on Wednesday.

"Over the last 24 hours since the launch of sales of flights to Cairo for the period of summer time-table (April 11-October 27) more than 1,245 seats have been booked. We can speak about feverish demand for the flights for the period of the 2018 World Cup. Some flights have already been filled by more than 50%,"the spokesperson said.

On Tuesday, Aeroflot announced that it will resume regular flights from Moscow to Cairo on April 11.

Flights will be carried out on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, the airline said.

From June 12 to July 2, the flights will become daily due to higher demand during the World Cup, Aeroflot noted.

Russia suspended regular air service with Egypt after a Russian A321 passenger jet owned by Russia’s Kogalymavia air carrier (flight 9268) bound to St. Petersburg crashed on October 31, 2015 some 30 minutes after the takeoff from Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh. The plane was carrying 217 passengers and seven crewmembers. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) qualified the tragedy as a terrorist attack.

For the resumption of flights Russia demanded that Egypt should step up security measures in the Cairo airport.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the decree on resumption of scheduled flights to Cairo on January 4, 2018. Settlement of technical matters, including slots booking and schedule preparation, continued in two subsequent months.

Currently, Aeroflot is the only Russian airline that plans to fly from Moscow to Cairo.