The number of passengers travelling with Egyptian airlines – on both domestic and international flights – decreased by 40.4 percent to 10.1 million passengers in 2015 compared to 17 million passengers in 2014, the official statistics body CAPMAS announced on Monday. In its annual statement on air traffic, CAMPAS also stated that the number of Egyptian passenger and cargo flights decreased by 32.2 percent to 195,400 flights in 2015 compared to 288,200 flights in 2014. The statement attributes the decrease in traffic for domestic airlines to "the decrease in the number of tourists coming to Egypt." Some countries including the UK and Russia suspended passenger flights to Egypt last year over security concerns after the deadly crash of a Russian jet, which killed all 224 passengers on board, minutes after taking off from the Sinai resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh. Despite the decrease in the total number of passengers and air traffic for Egyptian airlines, the statement indicated that total air traffic saw a slight increase. Egypt's total passenger traffic at airports increased by 0.8 percent in 2015 compared to 2014, reaching 34.8 million passengers, while the total number of flights at airports increased 5.9 percent to reach 325,500 flights in 2015 compared to 307,400 in 2014. The downing of the Russian flight was a heavy blow to Egypt's already ailing tourism industry. The number of tourists coming to Egypt dropped by 50 percent in the first half of 2016 compared to the same period last year, according to Egypt's Tourism Authority. Tourism revenues during that period witnessed a drop of 60 percent compared to 2015.
