Egypt denies suspension of UK flights to Sharm el Sheikh

(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Reports that Egypt has suspended U.K. flights into Sharm el-Sheikh have been denied by Britain’s ambassador in Cairo.

John Casson who is part of the British diplomatic team at the Egyptian resort’s airport helping thousands of tourists hoping to return to the U.K. said that flights were not being blocked and that they were “working through logistical issues” with Egyptian authorities.

In comments broadcast by the BBC Casson said: “Our aim is to get as many people home as soon as possible.

“We will advise people to stay in touch with their airline in the first instance to find out the best time to come to the airport. But we have a big British government team here on the ground now ready to provide help.”

Egypt’s Transport Minister Hossam Kamal said in a statement that more than one-third of the airport’s 74 flight departures on Friday would be for the U.K.

Also 29 of Friday’s flights were scheduled to fly to Britain Kamal said.

British airlines sent several empty aircraft to the Egyptian resort early on Friday to repatriate hundreds of tourists stranded there but there is a confused picture at Sharm el-Sheikh airport with hundreds of passengers waiting at the terminal to see if they can fly home.

One passenger Leon Klon said in a BBC telephone interview that he had been told by officials that additional rescue flights sent from Britain could not land because of a lack of space at the airport.

All flights between Sharm el-Sheikh and Britain have been suspended since Wednesday when the U.K. government said it feared last weekend’s Russian plane crash in the nearby Sinai desert was likely to have been caused by a bomb.

British budget airline easyJet said that it had planned 10 flights on Friday from Sharm el-Sheikh to destinations in the U.K. and Italy but that eight had been cancelled because of restrictions placed by the Egyptian authorities.

Other airlines including British Airways and Monarch said that its rescue aircraft were flying towards the resort and expected them to return with passengers later on Friday.

Approximately 19000 British tourists are currently in Sharm el-Sheikh with hundreds scheduled to return home this week.

Earlier in the day Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin had told ITV’s Good Morning Britain program that “most of the people who were expecting to be home by tonight will be home by tonight”.

Passengers were told their luggage would be flown back to Britain separately and returned to them around seven to 10 days later and that they would be permitted to take just five kilograms of hand luggage on the 19 passenger-carrying flights expected to depart on Friday.

Several other countries and airlines have followed the U.K.’s lead in cancelling scheduled services to and from Sharm el-Sheikh.

Ireland and Belgium have also advised their citizens to avoid travelling to the Egyptian resort by air while carriers including Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa have suspended their flights.