Cairo International Airport to receive biometric equipment on 12 January

Cairo International Airport is set to receive biometric equipment on 12 January to better track airport staff, according to Mohamed Saeed, the head of the Egyptian Holding Company for Airports and Air Navigation.

Saeed said that the equipment, which is set to arrive from Germany, will be installed immediately at staff gates in the airport’s newly inaugurated Terminal 2, the state-owned MENA news agency reported on Friday.

Saeed added that similar equipment has already been installed at the Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada international airports.

Egypt has been implementing tighter security measures at its airports since the crash of a Russian passenger flight shortly after it took off from Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport in late 2015.

The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for downing the plane shortly after the crash, which killed all 224 people on board. Egyptian investigations into the cause of the crash are still ongoing.

Egypt’s tourism industry has been hit hard since the crash, with the number of tourists visiting the country dropping by 50 percent in the first half of 2016 compared to the previous year, according to Egypt’s Tourism Authority.

A number of European countries that suspended flights to Sharm El-Sheikh following the 2015 crash have recently reinstated direct flights to the South Sinai tourist hotspot.

Russia, which leads European countries in sending tourists to Egypt, has inspected Egyptian airport security measures more than once, promising to resume flights to the country soon.

Source: Ahram Online