Lift ban on Sharm flights or risk young being radicalised, PM told
Prime minister Theresa May has been urged to lift the ban on flights to Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh by both the World Travel & Tourism Council and the World Tourism Organisation.
In a joint letter to the PM, they warned that unless UK flights resume, there was a risk local Egyptians would become ‘radicalised’ due to the growing financial crisis in the Red Sea resort.
WTTC president David Scowsill and secretary-general of UNWTO Taleb Rifai said the current travel advisory is having ‘devastating’ effects on the country’s economy and social stability.
The ban on commercial flights to Sharm has been in place since a Metrojet airline flying from Sharm el Sheikh to St Petersburg was blown up over the Sinai Desert in October 2015.
Scowsill visited Egypt last month to advise the country on its tourism security and it was hoped his visit would lead to a change of advice from the UK government.
The letter sent this week to the PM said: "Travel & Tourism is vital to Egypt’s economy and social peace, contributing 11% of the country’s GDP and 2.6 million in jobs in 2015.
"The reduction of visitors has created huge employment losses. The country’s biggest concern is how the lack of employment opportunities, especially for young men and women, has instilled a desperate disposition and thus vulnerability to radicalisation or to fleeing on a refugee boat."
It said Egyptian authorities have taken ‘significant’ measures to step up the level of security, not only in the airport but in the surrounding area as well.
"These improvements now meet the safety standards as indicated by the UK Department for Transport," it said.
"All other countries, including Germany and Russia, have allowed their airlines to start flying to Sharm el Sheikh again.
"It is devastating to see the impact the current UK travel advisory has on Egypt and on the young workforce in particular. We call on the UK government to review the advisory and allow commercial aircraft to fly to Sharm el Sheikh and thereby help restore the country’s travel and tourism sector’s GDP and employment provision."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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