Irish airlines suspended flights over Egypt’s Sinai

Ireland’s aviation authority on Wednesday instructed the country’s airlines not to fly to Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh airport or over the Sinai Peninsula after Britain said it was a concerned a Russian airliner that crashed in the area may have been downed by a bomb.

“The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) directs Irish airline operators not to operate to/from Sharm El-Sheikh Airport, Egypt or in the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula airspace until further notice,” said IAA chief executive Eamonn Brennan in a statement.

“An update will issue once further information becomes available.”

The authority took the “precautionary measure” following an announcement by Britain that new information indicated that the Russian plane could have been brought down by a bomb, the IAA said.

Britain temporarily suspended flights on Wednesday from Sharm El-Sheikh, from where the Airbus A-321 took off before crashing and killing all 224 people on board on Saturday.

Officials from Ireland’s Air Accident Investigation Unit are taking part in the investigation into the causes of the crash, as the aircraft was registered in Ireland through a leasing company.

source: AFP