EgyptAir announced on Tuesday that it will be resuming direct flights between Cairo and Moscow starting 15 April. EgyptAir will conduct one flight per day, asserting that people who wish to travel between Cairo and Moscow should contact customer service or tourism agents. The airline called upon travellers to follow the health procedures necessary to travel to Russia and to conduct a PCR test within 48 hours before the flight's departure time. Last week, Egypt's parliament approved a law that allows the Minister of Finance to provide EgyptAir with an insurance guarantee covering risks, including any wars or hijackings that flights heading to Russia may face. EgyptAir flights to Moscow have been cancelled since March due to the Russian-Ukrainian war. It is worth noting that suspending flights to Egypt from Russia and Ukraine dealt a huge blow to the Egyptian tourism sector, as both countries are main exporters of tourists to Egypt. As a result, the Egyptian government has been looking for an alternative to compensate for this loss. According to Russia's Ambassador to Cairo Georgy Borisenko, about 125,000 Russian tourists visited Egypt during the first two weeks of 2022, and that 700,000 Russian tourists visited Egypt in 2021 as well. In 2018, Russia resumed flights to Cairo after a three-year suspension following the crash of a Russian airliner over Sinai in 2015. In July 2021, Russia lifted a flight ban on the popular Red Sea tourist cities of Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh.
