Representatives of the Egyptian aviation authorities visited Russia in connection with the desire to resume charter flights to the resorts of the Arab state, Russian Transport Minister Yevgeny Dietrich told journalists, Interfax reports.
“They came,” said E. Dietrich, answering to the question of whether representatives of the Egyptian aviation authorities visited Russia to cheer for their team at the World Cup and at the same time discuss the resumption of charter flights.
Meanwhile, according to the minister, all issues related to the resumption of air travel to Egyptian resorts will be discussed after the completion of the World Cup in Russia.
Direct flights between Egypt and Moscow were interrupted in the fall of 2015, after a Kogalymavia plane flying from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg was blown up over Sinai. Flights between Russia and Cairo resumed on April 11, when Aeroflot and Egypt Air began operating flights between Moscow and Cairo again. Tour operators believe that the restoration of mass tourist flow to Egypt is impossible without opening flights to Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh, since flights to Cairo are inconvenient to use for sending a large number of tourists.
According to Egyptian statistics, about 100,000 tourists from Russia visited Egypt in 2017, using connecting flights. Before Egypt was closed in 2015, up to 3 million Russian tourists visited the country annually.
Source: trn-news.ru