The renowned British travel agency Thomas Cook is planning to run flights from UK to Egypt soon due to an increase in demand from British customers who see the country as a tourist destination.
According to media statements released by the Chief Executive of Thomas Cook Peter Fankhauser on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, his company aims to organize flights to Egypt and Turkey as demand is on the rise and there is advice from the UK Foreign Office that travel is permitted to both countries.
“Both destinations are wonderful countries, with great hotels, great beaches, nice people, and it’s really good value. People want to go back. We are not a security company; as long as we have the advice of the Foreign Office that we can fly to Egypt and Turkey, we offer a great product,” he said.
Moreover, the remarkable increase in the prices of destinations seen as “safer” continue to increase as many holidaymakers have switched from the eastern Mediterranean to destinations such as Spain.
Egypt has witnessed a slump in visitor numbers due to a series of terror attacks that have been followed by a closure of UK airlines to the main Egyptian resort airport, Sharm el Sheikh.
The deadly downfall of the Russian areoplane that took place over the Sinai Peninsula in 2015 and killed all 224 on board was the fatal slap that targeted the Egyptian tourism sector as the plane took off from Sharm El Sheikh International Airport on route to Russia.
In the wake of the deadly crash, the IS affiliated group Sinai Province claimed responsibility for the attack and noted that it has been implemented through the usage of ‘improvised explosive device’ in a soda can.
Moreover, the deadly crash pushed several countries to halt flights to Sharm el-Sheikh airport including Russia, Germany and the UK. Some of these countries, including Russia, is still engaging in negotiations with Egypt to resume flights.
