Russia Suspends Flights to Egypt Due to Security Concerns
KABUL: (Middle East Press) The Russian president Vladimir Putin has ordered the suspension of flights to all Egyptian airports following an October 31 passenger plane crash in Sinai that killed all 224 people on board.
“As long as we haven’t established the causes of the incident, I consider it appropriate to suspend the flights of Russian aircraft to Egypt. This primarily applies to the tourist flow,” FSB director Aleksandr Bortnikov told a meeting of the Russian Anti-Terror Committee on Friday.
Egypt has provided Russian investigators with access to all the fragments of the crashed plane as well as the baggage, he said. There is need for “absolute objectivity” and “confirmed data” to establish the causes of the disaster, he added.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Putin agreed with the recommendations of the Federal Security Service (FSB). He added that Putin had instructed the government to ensure the safe return of Russian citizens from Egypt and to cooperate with the Egyptian authorities on establishing air traffic security.
Thousands of British holidaymakers have been trying to make their way home from Sharm el-Sheikh, with many flights cancelled. The first few made it back on Friday evening, with flights arriving at Gatwick and Luton airports and another due to arrive at Glasgow shortly before midnight.
Putin’s decision came after several days of statements by British and American officials that it was possible a bomb on board had brought down the Russia carrier Metrojet’s Airbus A321-200, which crashed 23 minutes after takeoff from the Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
“I think it will be reasonable to suspend all Russian flights to Egypt until we determine the real reasons of what happened,” intelligence chief Alexander Bortnikov Bortnikov said in televised comments. “It concerns tourist flights most of all.”
Russia’s emergency situations minister, Vladimir Puchkov, said wreckage from the plane have been brought to Moscow for tests.
