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UK lifts ban on flights to Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh 

October 22, 2019 at 1:54 pm

Sharm El-Sheikh is an Egyptian resort town between the desert of the Sinai Peninsula and the Red Sea on 22 February 2019 [Yessica da silva esteves/Flickr]

The British government has removed its advisory against flying to Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh resort, Reuters reported the British embassy in Cairo saying in a statement today.

“This announcement follows our aviation security experts’ close cooperation with their Egyptian counterparts. We will work closely with airlines who wish to resume flights,” British Ambassador to Egypt Geoffrey Adams said in the statement.

“The UK has been clear that flights to Sharm el-Sheikh should resume when the security situation allows,” British minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Andrew Murrison, said in a statement released by the embassy.

“I am pleased that today we can announce the lifting of the current restrictions.”

The British government has advised against all but essential travel by air to and from the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh since a Russian passenger jet was bombed in 2015, killing all 224 people on board shortly after take-off.

READ: UK university asks students to leave Egypt

The attack, which was claimed by Daesh, prompted Russia to halt all flights to Egypt for several years and a number of countries to cease flights to Sharm El-Sheikh.

Egypt’s civil aviation ministry welcomed the UK’s decision.

“It is an indicator of the trustful relationship [between the two countries],” it said in a statement.