Egypt is ‘very confident’ Sharm flights will resume soon
Egypt’s Tourism Minister is ‘very confident’ the UK Government will lift its suspension of flights to Sharm el Sheikh ‘soon’.
But he said no official talks would be taking place with UK politicians this week despite many key tourism officials and representatives being in London for World Travel Market.
In recent weeks pressure has been growing on the British Prime Minister to lift the suspension of flights which has now been in place since October 2015.
Commercial flights were suspended after a Russian Metrojet, which had just taken off from Sharm, exploded over the Sinai killing all 224 passengers and crew.
Russian authorities claimed the crash was caused by an explosive device planted on board, although this has been denied by Egypt.
Speaking at WTM, Egypt’s Minister for Tourism Yehia Rashed, a seasoned hotelier who took over the role earlier this year, said the airport and the resort was now very secure and it was merely waiting for the all clear.
"We had hoped the decision would be taken yesterday, but we will leave the British Government to take their time. We respect their decisions. It really is their prerogative," he said.
He said it was in the interests of both the Egyptian people and UK travel companies to get the destination fully open for business again.
Sharm el Sheikh attracted 700,000 British visitors in 2015 but this year the numbers have been negligible.
Last week Monarch confirmed it was cancelling all flight and holiday bookings to Sharm el Sheikh ‘for the foreseeable future’.
It said with no indication from the UK Government as to when the airport will re-open to flights from the UK, it has no choice but to cancel all flight and holiday bookings for winter 2016/17.
But the Tourism Minister said he was confident UK companies would resume flights as soon as the suspension is lifted.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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