First TUI flights arrive at Sharm el Sheikh since ban lifted
Passengers on the first two TUI flights to arrive at Sharm el Sheikh in over four years received a VIP welcome on Sunday.
The operator’s first flight, from Gatwick and its second, which arrived shortly after from Manchester, were greeted by celebrations from local dignitaries.
A passenger on the Gatwick flight said it was met by fire engines jetting water over the top of the aircraft, before a reception featuring flowers, music and cocktails.
The flights are the first operated by TUI in four years, since the UK Government announced in November it was lifting the ban on flights to Sharm.
From this week, TUI will operate flights from Gatwick, Birmingham and Manchester on Wednesdays and Sundays until the end of March.
The ban had been in place since November 2015, following the bombing of a Russian airliner soon after take-off from Sharm el-Sheikh airport, which killed all 224 people on board.
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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