Lufthansa resumes Cairo flights after one-day suspension
German airline Lufthansa on Sunday has resumed flights to Cairo after it temporarily suspended flights for one day “as a precaution”, said Egyptian Ambassador in Berlin Badr Abdel-Aati.
British Airways (BA) and Lufthansa on Saturday have abruptly suspended flights to the Egyptian capital over security concerns, without giving further details.
BA imposed a seven-day suspension of its flights to Cairo starting from Saturday, in a move intended as a precaution to “allow for further assessment.” The German airline also canceled flights to Cairo from Munich and Frankfurt on Saturday for one day, but said it was “evaluating the situation.”
“There is a heightened risk of terrorism against aviation,” Britain’s Foreign Office said in a travel advisory to British nationals heading to Egypt.
The British Foreign Office said flights departing Egypt for the UK were also undergoing “additional security measures,” and urged passengers to “cooperate fully with security officials at airports.”
It later updated its travel advisory on Saturday to add a reference to the British Airways suspension, advising travellers affected to contact the airline.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson from Lufthansa said: “As safety is the number one priority of Lufthansa, the airline has temporarily suspended its flights to Cairo today as a precaution, while further assessment is being made.”
“The German airline decided to temporarily halt the flights as a precaution just for one day.” Abdel-Aati told the official state news agency MENA.
In response, Egypt’s Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement late on Saturday that it had contacted the British Embassy in Cairo which had confirmed that the decision to suspend the flights was not issued by Britain’s transport or foreign ministries.
Tourism is a vital source of foreign revenue for Egypt. The sector has been recovering in the wake of the 2011 uprising and the 2015 terrorist bombing of a Russian jet carrying 224 holidaymakers from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
