Russia announced Friday it would resume international regular flights starting February 8, and up the number of its flights to Egypt.
“From February 8, flights will resume from international airports in Astrakhan, Yekaterinburg, Irkutsk, Makhachkala, Mineralnye Vody, Nizhny Novgorod, Perm and Khabarovsk,” Egypt’s official news agency, MENA, reported.
It said the headquarters of combating the coronavirus in Russia decided that as of February 8, the number of regular flights to Egypt from these Russian airports will be increased at a rate of no more than one flight per week from each airport.
A Russian delegation of security and aviation experts visited Egypt on Thursday to inspect the latest security procedures at the Cairo, Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh airports and the process for the resumption of regular charter flights from Russia to Egypt’s Red Sea resorts.
An informed source said the Russian delegation would remain in the country until Feb. 3 to inspect all measures inside departure and arrival halls, alongside procedures for securing bags and travelers and ensuring the presence of security personnel in their assigned spots.
Moscow halted civilian air traffic to Egypt in 2015 after militants detonated a bomb on a Russian Metrojet flight leaving the tourist resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, killing 224 people on board.
In April 2018, Russia’s biggest airline Aeroflot said it would restart flights to Cairo.