The German Ministry of Transportation has lifted a ban on the haulage of checked luggage on charter flights to Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt.

The ban was instated following the downing of a MetroJet (Russian Federation) (Moscow Domodedovo) A321-200 over the Sinai Peninsula in October 2015 which killed all 217 passengers and 7 crew on-board. Subsequent investigations revealed Islamic State's Egyptian affiliate Wilayat Sinaa had secreted a 1kg stick of TNT among on-board luggage.

As it stands, Berlin says its decision to revoke the ban comes after German aviation experts carried out several audits of Sharm el Sheikh's security measures during the course of March. As such, the move is expected to help encourage German operators to restart flights to Egypt.

International carriers have been slow to resume their respective services to the Egyptian Red Sea resorts. Of the UK operators to serve Sharm el Sheikh, Thomson Airways (London Luton), easyJet (London Luton), Monarch Airlines (1968) (London Luton), and Thomas Cook Airlines UK (Manchester) have all opted to wait until the latter part of the year before recommencing flights there.