An Egyptian army soldier is seen as Russian passengers, who just finished their holidays, leave at the airport of the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh in this file photo dated November 6. EasyJet and British Airways said they won’t resume flights to Sharm El Sheikh until January at the
earliest as the UK shows no sign of lifting a ban on
services to the Egyptian resort.
Bloomberg
London
EasyJet and British Airways said they won’t resume flights to Sharm El Sheikh until January at the earliest as the UK shows no sign of lifting a ban on services to the Egyptian resort imposed after a suspected bomb attack on a Russian jetliner killed 224 people on October 31.
EasyJet is extending its suspension of the route until January 6 “to help provide some certainty for passengers over the Christmas period,” while British Airways has scrapped flights through January 14, the UK companies said yesterday in e-mailed statements.
“Following discussions with the Department for Transport, EasyJet took the decision to suspend all flying between the UK and Sharm El Sheikh after November 4, and won’t resume flights until the government’s advice changes,” Europe’s biggest discount carrier said.
The DfT, which originally halted flights to the Sinai location through November 25, said yesterday that the ban will remain in place as Britain works with Egyptian authorities to deliver “robust security measures.” It’s too early to speculate about when services might resume, it said.
Some 20,000 Britons had to be evacuated from Sharm El Sheikh after UK Prime Minister David Cameron halted scheduled flights amid concern a bomb was to blame for the loss of the Metrojet Airbus A321 plane bound for St Petersburg. British Airways said it hasn’t flown any customers to the resort since November 2 and that its last flight out was on November 14. “The safety and security of our customers will continue to be our top priorities in any decisions we may make,” it said.
Luton, England-based EasyJet said passengers will get a refund, flight voucher or can rebook to another city in its network.
