A delegation from Egypt's civil aviation ministry inspected Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport, as the country continues its efforts to attract tourists via charter flights previously suspended by several European countries since the crash of a Russian airliner in 2015. The delegation praised all security measures implemented at the airport during their inspection of measures inside and outside of the airport, as well as perimeter fences and surveillance cameras. The delegation said that the Sharm El-Sheikh airport is among the most vital in the country as it is a key tourist destination and continually hosts a number of regional and international conferences year round. Egypt has been boosting security procedures at many of its airports in response to existing British and Russian ban on flights to this tourist hub since the Russian airliner crash over Egypt's Sinai which killed everyone on board. Russian flights to and from Cairo were reestablished in April 2018, ending a suspension which lasted over two-and-a-half-years.The bans on flights like these have been hurting Sharm El-Sheikh economically, but Egypt hopes that with increased security measures all bans will be lifted. Last week, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said he hopes that the final agreement on the resumption of charter flights to the airports of Egypt's Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh will be reached in the near future. "At the moment the work on the main airports serving tourists in the resort areas of Egypt - Sinai, Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada - is almost completed. We hope that in the near future final agreements on the resumption of flights, at least charter flights to these resorts, will be reached, " he said, according to Interfax.
