Egypt’s Hurghada International Airport receives first Russian flight after five-year suspension
Egypt’s Hurghada International Airport has received on Monday at 9:00 CLT (7:00 GMT) its first direct flight from the Russian capital of Moscow in more than five years.
The Airbus A330-300, operated by Egypt’s flag carrier EgyptAir, has had 300 Russian tourists on board.
The airport staff received tourists with flowers and chocolate.
Russia halted its flights to Egypt a few days after a Russian plane crashed over Sinai Peninsula in late October 2015, resulting in the death of all 224 passengers and crew on board.
In April 2018, direct flights between Moscow and Cairo were resumed, but the suspension related to the two Red Sea resort cities of Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh remained pending. Later, Russian President Vladimir Putin finally made a decision last July to lift a ban on flights to the two cities.
“From August 9, the number of flights to Europe will be increased, with Moscow-Hurghada and Moscow-Sharm el-Sheikh flights adding up to five flights per week for every route,” the Russian anti-coronavirus crisis centre noted in an earlier statement on July 23.
