British Airways, EasyJet cancel flights to Sharm el-Sheikh until January

Two British airlines canceled flights to and from Sharm el-Sheikh until January following advice from the British Government.

British Airways said, in a statement on Tuesday, that flights to the Red Sea resort would be canceled until January 14, 2016, “as a result of Government advice not to carry any further customers to Sharm el-Sheikh.”

EasyJet also said flights to and from Sharm el-Sheikh would be canceled until January 6, 2016, citing “significant issues” associated with flying to and from the resort in the past few weeks.

In October, a Russian passenger plane carrying 217 passengers and seven crew members crashed shortly after takeoff from Sharm el-Sheikh with no survivors. While Egypt has repeatedly denied reports of a terrorist attack, the director of the Russian Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov confirmed that a makeshift bomb containing one kilogram of TNT exploded on board the plane.

Following the crash, Russia also ordered the suspension of all flights to Egypt, while several other airlines temporarily halted their flights over the Sinai Peninsula, moves that hit Egypt’s tourism industry hard.

Some estimates suggest the country may lose over LE184 million (approximately US$23.5 million) per month as a result of the suspension of Russian and British flights to Sharm el-Sheikh. Reuters reported that these two countries alone account for nearly two-thirds of foreigners visiting the Red Sea resort.

Earlier this month, a defiant President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi made a surprise visit to Sharm el-Sheikh, and pledged to keep the tourism industry alive.

"The lights will not be going out in Sharm el-Sheikh or Hurghada while we are here. We will support them in facing the situation," Sisi said, calling the Russian plane crash “an isolated incident.”