State airline EgyptAir will launch weekly trips between Madrid, and the southern city of Luxor through Cairo International Airport during this current winter season, at flight number MS754, Chairman of EgyptAir Safwat Mosalam announced Monday. "This comes within the framework of restoring the tourism industry in Egypt, as it is one of the most important sources of national income," Mosalam said in a statement. Mosalam further said the first Madrid-Luxor trip flies from Madrid on 5 December. European travel bans have taken a toll on Egyptian tourism industry, a key source of hard currency following a Russian passenger jet crash over Sinai in October 2015 that killed all 224 people on board. The Egyptian affiliate of the Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the crash, saying it had smuggled a bomb on board. Since the crash, Egypt has been implementing new and tighter security measures at all of its airports. In October, EgyptAir announced the resumption of Luxor-London trips, snapping a one-year suspension of flights between the two destinations. Earlier this month, the first German flight has arrived at Sharm El-Sheikh airport, putting an end to the European country's one-year travel ban to the Red Sea resort city. German airlines were among several foreign carriers that imposed travel bans on flights to Sharm El-Sheikh since the Russian passenger jet crash. In recent weeks, a number of foreign airlines have also resumed flights to Sharm El-Sheikh airport, including Turkish Airlines and Polish Airlines. Moscow and Cairo are still negotiating the resumption of Russian flights to Egypt.
