Restrictions on flights between Sharm el Sheikh and the United Kingdom (UK) were lifted by the UK Government on October 22, as the necessary improvements in security procedures at the Egyptian airport mean that airlines can now resume operations there.
The decision to allow flights to resume follows a period of close co-operation between UK and Egyptian officials on aviation security. In tandem with this announcement, the UK's Foreign Office and Commonwealth Office has updated its travel guidance to Egypt, saying it "no longer advises against all but essential travel by air to/from Sharm el-Sheikh".
The lifting of restrictions is the first step towards the resumption of flights to Sharm el-Sheikh. The UK Government will now begin work with carriers that have expressed an interest in operating flights as they develop their plans.
Services to the Egyptian resort from the UK were stopped in October 2015 after 224 people died in the bombing of MetroJet (Russian Federation) flight 9268, linked to the Islamic State group.
Prior to the cessation of flights from the UK to the Egyptian destination, five carriers were operating between the UK and Sharm el-Sheikh, as indicated by the ch-aviation schedules module. In the final weeks before services were withdrawn in October 2015, TUI Airways was the largest carrier in the market in terms of weekly frequencies, offering 32 weekly flights from Belfast International, Birmingham, GB, Bristol International, Cardiff, Doncaster/Sheffield, Nottingham East Midlands, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow International, London Gatwick, London Stansted, Manchester International, and Newcastle, GB. British Airways and easyJet were also present on UK to Sharm el-Sheikh routes, as well as the now-defunct Thomas Cook Airlines UK and Monarch Airlines (1968).
Speaking to the BBC, TUI Airways said it would reintroduce Sharm el-Sheikh flights following the decision, "taking into account customer demand". easyJet said it would "look at any opportunities" as a result of the lifting of the flying restriction from the UK.
For its part, Russia banned all commercial flights to Egypt in 2015, a stance which softened in April 2018, when scheduled flights were allowed to resume between Moscow and Cairo International.
Discussions, as well as inspections of Egyptian airports by Russian officials, are ongoing, in the hope of the resumption of charter flights between the two nations in the near future. However, Russian officials are seemingly using the flight ban to broker deals for the country's aircraft manufacturers.
In a recent interview with TASS, Russia’s Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said that the two nations are discussing deliveries of fifteen SSJ 100/95s in the context of resuming charter flights to Egypt's resorts. Also according to Manturov, negotiations on the deliveries to Egyptian carriers of the MC-21-300 are in the early stage.
