Russia signs aviation safety agreement with Egypt in move to resume flights

Russia and Egypt have signed an agreement on cooperation on civil aviation security in a first step to resuming regular Russian flights to Cairo, the transport ministry said on Friday.

The agreement should allow flights to Cairo to resume in February 2018, the ministry quoted Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov as saying.

Moscow halted civilian air traffic to Egypt in 2015 after militants allegedly detonated a bomb on a Russian Metrojet flight leaving the tourist resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, killing 224 people on board. Details surrounding the cause of the crash have yet to be revealed although both parties opened investigations to discover if the plane had malfunctioned or been targeted by militants on the ground.

In 2016, Russia announced that it will not resume flights to Egypt after an EgyptAir flight was hijacked and forced to land in Larnaca Airport, Cyprus.

Read: No recovery in Egypt tourism industry 2 years after Russia plane crash