Kazakhstan is set to resume its civilian flights to Sharm El-Sheikh in March, Egypt's civil aviation ministry announced in a Wednesday statement. The Ministry of Civil Aviation said it received a letter from the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs informing it that Kazakhstan will resume flights to Sharm El-Sheikh in March after their suspension following a Russian passenger plane crash in Sinai in October. The decision to resume flights to Sharm El-Sheikh in March was taken after Kazakhstan's civil aviation committee sent a delegation to visit Cairo and Sharm El-Sheikh airports. Kazakhstan, a former Soviet Republic, suspended flights to Sharm el-Sheikh in November over security concerns following the crash of the Russian airliner in Sinai that killed all 224 people on board. The Islamist IS group claimed that it downed the plane. A Russian investigation concluded that the downing of the plane was a criminal act. However, Egypt, which has not yet released its final official report on the disaster, maintains that its "technical investigative committee has so far not received any evidence indicating criminal or terrorist activity." According to the Egyptian aviation ministry, the first flight from Kazakhstan to Sharm El-Sheikh will take place on 19 March. A number of countries, including the United Kingdom and Russia, have suspended flights to Sharm El-Sheikh citing safety concerns after the crash. source: Ahram Online
