Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) announced that carriers are now allowed to resume flights to Egypt from 49 Russian cities, where international operations have resumed, effective August 27. Some 13 Russian airlines have applied to launch more than 90 routes to Egypt's Red Sea resorts of Sharm al-Sheikh and Hurghada, according to a statement by Rosaviatsiya. The maximum frequency for Moscow-Hurghada and Moscow-Sharm El Sheikh services will increase from five to 15 times a week and airlines are entitled to operate weekly to Hurghada and Sharm al-Sheikh from other Russian cities. Russian carriers with authorisation to operate Russia–Egypt services include Aeroflot, Azur Air, Nordwind Airlines, Red Wings, Rossiya – Russian Airlines, S7 Airlines, Ural Airlines and Yamal Airlines, the statement added. In July, Russian President Vladimir Putin lifted a ban on Russia's charter flights to Egypt. The move came six years after halting these flights for national security seasons in the aftermath of a plane from Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg crashed over the Sinai Peninsula in October 2015, killing 224 people. Moscow concluded that a bomb was behind the plane crash. A group affiliated with Islamic State (ISIS) extremists later claimed responsibility for the crash at the time. Since the plane crash, authorities in the North African country have spent millions of dollars to upgrade security at its airports, hoping to get Moscow to resume flights to its resorts.
