Trade envoy says UK will not restore tourist flights to Sinai in near future

Britain’s trade envoy to Egypt has said that the government does not intend to restore flights to the Red Sea resort of Sharm Al-Sheikh in the near future, Quds Press has reported.

During his meeting on Monday with a delegation from the British-Egyptian Chamber of Commerce in Cairo, Jeffrey Donaldson MP asserted that there is no deadline for the resumption of flights between Sharm Al-Sheikh and Britain. Flights were suspended in the wake of the crash of a Russian civilian aircraft over Sinai in late October last year.

Donaldson said that he hopes that the Egyptians would understand that the British government’s priority is to maintain the safety of its citizens, and that it is Egypt’s priority to maintain Egyptians’ safety. As such, he added, the two governments have been working jointly to ensure the safety of security procedures at airports.

The Member of Parliament for Lagan Valley in Northern Ireland expressed the hope that flights between the UK and Sharm Al-Sheikh would be restored soon in order to enhance relations between the two countries, which he described as very strong.

Britain was the first country to evacuate its nationals from the resort following the Russian plane crash that killed all 224 people on board. The plane came down minutes after it took off from Sharm Al-Sheikh International Airport on 31 October. Russia followed Britain’s lead soon afterwards.

The Ministry of Tourism in Cairo estimates that Britain’ suspension of flights to and from the Red Sea resort has caused monthly losses for the tourism sector in Egypt of 120 million Egyptian pounds (over $173 million).