Chairperson of EgyptAir, Safwat Musallam, said on Sunday that the company will resume flights between Luxor and London after a year of suspension. Musallam said that flights would resume on 3 October, in a decision aimed at restoring the tourism movement in Egypt. Similarly, Sharm El-Sheikh airport received the first direct flight from Frankfurt in Germany on Sunday after a year of suspension, according to Minister of Civil Aviation Sherif Fathy. Russia, along with the United Kingdom, suspended flights to Egypt in the aftermath of an attack claimed by Islamic State, which brought down a Russian passenger flight on 31 October 2015. The plane, flying from Sharm El-Sheikh, crashed over the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people on board. Tourism is a key source of income for Egypt and the sector was severely impacted following the suspension of several flights from Europe. In July of this year, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said that the number of tourists arriving in Egypt decreased to 431,800 in May 2016, compared to 894,600 in May 2015—an overall decline of 51.7%. Last month, Turkish Airlines resumed its flights from Istanbul Atatürk airport heading to Sharm El-Sheikh airport after an 11-month suspension. In addition, 11 fights from Italy to Sharm El-Sheikh are scheduled to take place in October. Egypt is seeking to restore Russian flights to Egypt through holding several talks with Moscow and inviting a Russian delegation for inspection. Source: Daily News Egypt
