Russian flights to Egypt might soon resume starting from 23rdFebruary, 2017. The flights would be flying to three Egyptian airports including those of Hurghada, Sharm El-Sheikh and Cairo.
The authorities of Egyptian airport have received ocular biometric scanners from Russia.
They would all be installed in Terminal 2 that would operate international flights to Russia, for the purpose of heavy airport security. The Egyptian tourist figures had declined by 51.2% in the initial half of 2016 immediately after the Russian plane crash over the Sinai peninsula, as asserted by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).
Consequently, some European nations including the UK have had to suspend their flights to and from the resort because of intelligence concerns. This had brought about a harsh blow to the tourism sector of Egypt.
The Ministry of Tourism of Egypt has released data that confirms that the monthly losses of the country are worth $173 million.
But then, the third Russian consulate in Egypt had opened in Hurghada on 22nd January. It joined the two others in Alexandria and Cairo in order to provide consular services to 20,000 Russian residents and the coming tourists.
A tourism expert and member of the Tourism Investors Association in the Red Sea named Hossam Akawy said in a press release that the opening of the consulate marks a positive step that would enable the Egyptian tourism industry to undergo a revival quite soon.
In the year 2015, Russian tourists accounted for about 67.9% of Egypt’s tourists.
CAPMAS’s figures state that the leading three countries that had helped keep Egypt’s tourism strong in 2014 include Germany, UK and Russia.
Countries like Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland have joined Russia and have lifted the travel ban on the Sinai Peninsula after more than a year.
Mohamed Al-Hassanein, the member of the tourism companies’ chamber in the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce said in a press release on Thursday that the tourism market would start feeling the positive impacts of these flights resumption by the beginning of October.
Tourism is among the most significant sectors in the Egyptian economy.
In addition, it is also an important source of employment for Egyptians. Yehia Rashed, the Minister of Tourism had earlier declared in a press release that 2017 would mark an important year in terms of the recovery of the Egyptian tourism industry especially after the airlines from Germany, UK and Russia resume their flights to Egypt.
