Russia will resume regular flights between Cairo and Moscow soon, in light of the outcome of technical and security evaluations carried out by Russia in cooperation with Egypt, President Vladimir Putin said during a telephone call with Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday, according to MENA news agency.
Sisi also expressed wishes to promote bilateral ties. He offered condolences over the assasination of the Russian ambassador in Ankara, expressing solidarity with the Russian people and their government against terrorism which seeks to destabilizing countries and intimidate the innocent.
According to Sisi, the terrorist actions which occurred around the world recently confirm the necessity of uniting international efforts against terrorism.
Presidential spokesperson Alaa Youssef said that Putin thanked Sisi for the solidarity, adding that this shows the strength of Egyptian-Russian ties.
Egypt’s tourism was partly fueled by Russian tourists in the past, up until the crashing of a Russian civilian aircraft above the Sinai peninsula in October 2015.
The crash led to a halt of tourist flights from Russia, the United Kingdom and several other nations, with a massive drop in tourism revenues for Egypt.
The tourism sector took a bad hit especially after the crash of the Russian MetroJet flight near Sharm El-Sheikh, which killed all 224 people on board.
Several countries followed suit in suspending flights to the Red Sea airports, adding to the vast numbers of holidaymakers who had already chosen to stay away from Egypt since a popular uprising in 2011.
Edited translation from AMAY
