Nordic countries warn against travel to Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh
Denmark, Norway and Finland are now warning their citizens against traveling to an Egyptian resort town, Sharm el-Sheikh as investigators continue to look into the cause of last week’s Russian plane crash.
The news comes a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin halted all Egypt flights to Russia, nearly a week after a Russian jetliner crashed shortly after takeoff, from Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all 224 people on board.
The countries are all telling their citizens to avoid “non-essential” travel to the area, The Associated Press reported. Further, Norway and Finland have told tourists already in the area not to travel around the Sinai Peninsula because of threats from the Islamic State.
Denmark “changed its advisory because of information we got,” said Danish Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen, according to The Associated Press.
That led to flight operators for the countries to cancel flights to Sharm el-Sheikh.
Several other countries started canceling flights to and from the town earlier this week, as British and U.S. officials said a bomb may have brought the airliner down.
On Saturday morning, the possibility of traveling home remained unclear for many British travelers. At the Marriott resort in Sharm el-Sheikh, vacationers in beach attire chatted about a lack of information.
“The information from EasyJet has just slowed down a bit. We heard that we were going to go, and then just nothing. We haven’t got a new flight, no nothing. No idea,” said Gary Elliott, a British traveler who was meant to fly out Thursday evening on the airline.
“We’re getting bored now. It’s nice being here, but we just want to go home now,” said Elliott, who had traveled to this Red Sea resort on a honeymoon with his new wife. “We’ve got work and children at home.”
While a small number of journalists were able to enter the Sharm el-Sheikh airport early Saturday morning, by 11 a.m., foreign media attempting to enter were told they had been banned.
Security at the airport said there were new orders not to allow journalists to enter. However, some Egyptian journalists working in state media were allowed in.
“I went out to the airport at 6 this morning. There’s a little bit of a queue, doing the mirrors and stuff, they were checking my hand soaps and things, then when we got to the airport the flight was cancelled,” said Samantha King, a hairdresser from London who had been told she would fly early Saturday morning. “The EasyJet people were surprised we hadn’t been notified.”
King was told that if she did not receive a call by 4 p.m. Saturday, she would not be flying home. But despite the uncertainty, back at the resort, she said she was trying to enjoy the extra days at the beach.
“I’ve got a back up of clients now, I’ve got a really busy week. I’d really like to get out on Monday,” said King in the restaurant of the Marriott resort, back in clothes to spend the day at the beach.
“But to be honest, we’ve just been tanning the past few days, and I’ve got the backs of my legs,” she laughed.
source: USA Today
