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First EgyptAir flight departs for Russia after 30-month break

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on resuming regular flights between Russia and Egypt on January 4

© AP Photo/Amr Nabil

MOSCOW, April 12. /TASS/. An EgyptAir flight has departed to Moscow from Cairo after a break of two and a half years, as shown on flightradar24.com. The flight is scheduled to land at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport at 14:50 Moscow time (11:50 GMT).

On Wednesday, the first flight by Russia’s flag carrier Aeroflot delivered more than 120 passengers to Cairo.

Aeroflot and EgyptAir are the only airlines scheduled to operate regular flights between Russia and Egypt. Both plan to carry out three weekly return flights.

Before air service between the two countries was suspended, the two air carriers operated two weekly flights. However, Aeroflot has plans to perform daily flights on the route during the Russia-hosted 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Additional security measures

All flights between Russia and Egypt 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.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on resuming regular flights between Russia and Egypt on January 4.

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As a precondition for the resumption of flights, Russia called for considerably tightening security measures at Egyptian airports.

It took two months to resolve technical issues and ensure the presence of Russian security personnel at Cairo airport.

Meanwhile, Russian Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov said that talks on resuming charter flights between Russian cities and Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada were planned to be held in late spring or early summer.

Before resuming air service, Russia and Egypt developed a package of security measures. On December 15, 2017, Sokolov and Egyptian Minister of Civil Aviation Sherif Fathi signed a special protocol on civil aviation security cooperation.

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