Russian Federation has banned incoming flights by Egypt’s state-owned airline according to a Moscow airport spokesman.
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Egypt’s Civil Aviation Minister, Hossam Kamal, said on Friday that the last seven seconds of the cockpit voice recording from the Russian airliner that crashed in October in Egypt will be sent overseas for analysis.
US and British officials have cited intelligence reports indicating that the plane was brought down by a bomb on board shortly after it took off from Egypt’s Sharm al-Sheikh en route to St. Petersburg.
The Russian representatives said the Russian side is studying the situation and will formally respond to Egypt as soon as possible.
The announcement comes a week after Moscow halted Russian flights to and from Egypt as fears mounted that the Airbus jet crash in the Sinai peninsula could have been caused by a bomb.
Security fears following the crash have prompted Russian Federation and Britain – the biggest source market for Egypt – to dispatch several planes to evacuate their citizens from Sharm el-Sheikh. Thousands of holidaymakers were stranded in the area.
Sinai Province, an affiliate of the Islamic State in Egypt claimed responsibility for the crash of the Russian airplane. Meanwhile, it also remains unclear who is taking part in the investigative commission that will conduct the analysis to determine what caused the crash.
The UK Government has been working with airlines for over a week to provide tighter security at the Egyptian airport and allow travellers to fly back safely.
Although bodies have been repatriated to Russia, it’s unclear from both Egyptian and Russian officials whether autopsies have been performed on them, the Wall Street Journal reported.
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Most United Kingdom airlines have cancelled their scheduled flights to Sharm el-Sheikh for the remainder of August, although flights to other Egyptian destinations continue to operate.
