Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly inspected the Red Sea resort city of Hurghada under presidential directives to revamp the city to attract more tourists. He reviewed the security presence around the airport, as well as the new El-Dahar market, the first phase of which was finished at a cost of EGP 132 million. The PM held a meeting with security officials at the governorate to discuss the development plan of the Red Sea resort city, which was reviewed by the governor. The visit by the PM comes a week after President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed to resume direct flights between Russia and Egypt's Red Sea airports. These airports include Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh. Russia suspended direct flights to Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh, as well as other Egyptian airports, following the crash of a Russian flight in Sinai in October of 2015. Russia's flight suspension to Red Sea cities has taken a heavy toll on Egypt's tourism industry — a key source of hard currency — since Russian visitors were major contributors to the tourism market in the country prior to 2015. Since 2015, Egyptian authorities have upgraded all safety and security measures at all of the country's airports. As a result of Egyptian efforts, Russia resumed flights to Cairo International Airport in April 2018, ending a 30-month suspension, but did not resume flights to Egypt's Red Sea destinations.
