Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed hope that air travel to Egypt will be fully restored soon, provided there is confidence in the safety of flights, Interfax-Tourism reports.
“As far as air traffic is concerned, it is very "We want to restore air traffic in full," Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday at a press conference following the BRICS summit.
However, he noted, "we agreed that the work of our relevant special services and transport agencies responsible for flight safety must continue." "We must be absolutely confident that the safety of our citizens will be ensured," Vladimir Putin emphasized.
At the same time, V. Putin emphasized that “our Egyptian friends are doing everything to ensure this security.”
According to him, the relevant agencies are in contact with each other and are finalizing certain details.
"We very much hope and expect that we will be able to resolve this issue in the near future," the Russian president said.
Russia suspended air travel to Egypt in November 2015 following the crash of a Kogalymavia plane over Sinai. The plane, flying from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg, had 217 passengers and seven crew members on board; all were killed. The FSB later classified the incident as a terrorist attack.
On Monday, Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov stated that Russian specialists positively assess the level of security at Cairo Airport's Terminal 2, which will serve Russian citizens. Air travel between Russia and Egypt was expected to resume with the launch of regular flights between the two capitals. Russian passengers will be served at Cairo Airport's Terminal 2, which has been equipped with new security systems.
Meanwhile, news of the imminent resumption of air travel to Egypt has been appearing regularly almost since its closure, but nothing has changed. As a reminder, following the Kogalymavia plane explosion, European countries banned their airlines from flying only to Sharm el-Sheikh. Egypt's other airports are open to European tourists.
Source: trn-news.ru
