Tuesday saw further contradicting statements about when Russian flights to Egypt would be resumed.
Though the Russian transportation ministry said no date has been set as of yet, government-controlled news agency Sputnik reported that flights between Moscow and Egyptian cities are likely to resume on February 23 after fulfilling all security requirements at airports.
The Russian government said it is still mulling over the December report by Russian experts on Cairo airport, adding that the ministry has not yet finished the report on the inspections of Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh airports. Once drafted, it will be submitted to the government.
Sputnik quoted a source as saying: "Flights between Russia and Egypt will be resumed in February. The designated date is February 23. However, this will happen only if the Egyptian side complies with all security requirements."
The source added that the resumption will apply on charter and regular flights between Russia and three Egyptian cities — Cairo, Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh.
Meanwhile, EgyptAir denied receiving any official notification from Russia about the dates when flights to Moscow may be resumed. The Civil Aviation Authority has not received any requests or notifications of Russian demands to resume Aeroflot flights between Cairo and Moscow or to operate any charter flights anytime soon.
Egypt has been battling to recover the badly-affected tourism sector over the course of 2016, after years of political turmoil since the 25 January uprising. This was exacerbated by the downing of the Russian plane in October 2015, which killed all 224 passengers and crew on board, most of whom were Russian tourists.
Different countries have demanded certain security measures be implemented in Egyptian airports for the resumption of direct flights to be considered.
Russia halted all flights with Egypt after 2015 incident. Since then, Egypt has received several Russian experts who inspected the security methods at Egyptian airports.
The Egyptian government has invited security experts from several nations to inspect the security arrangements, while also making a deal with British security firm Control Risks for an overhaul of airport security operations.
Russia has laid down some conditions for Egypt-bound flights to run again.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
