Majority were Russian nationals.
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Ignatenko did not rule out that the “terrorist” theory of the crash in the sky over the Sinai may be related to the plans to involve Egypt – as a key Sunni state in the region – in worldwide efforts to fight against ISIS.
“We are endeavouring to process as many people as possible through the airport as safely and quickly as we can”, it said.
The Egyptian economy has been hammered by four years of political turmoil since a popular uprising unseated autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
“I was not anxious about flying out as I have been in Sharm El Sheikh twice before and it is an absolutely handsome place, and they are still sending out planes to bring people back home”.
Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) said on Thursday it planned to increase the frequency of its flights from the kingdom to the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh from February 2016.
Egypt’s president has made a surprise visit of the Sharm el-Sheikh airport, seeking to reassure tourists that the vacation destination is safe.
He called for Egyptians’ unity at what he described as “this hard time”.
“I wish no one had rushed ahead of the results of the investigation”, Sisi said in comments aired on Egyptian television.
The Islamic State group which commands an affiliate in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula claimed it destroyed the plane, without providing details.
All flights to the United Kingdom from the Egyptian resort were stopped last Wednesday after concerns a bomb may have caused a Russian flight from the resort to crash in the Sinai desert killing all 224 on board.
According to the tourism ministry, Egypt stands to lose 2.2bn Egyptian pounds ($280m) a month after the cancellation of flights from Russian Federation and Britain.
This makes the Sharm el-Shiekh plane crash “the worst catastrophe” for the tourism industry in the country, officials said.
Dawn, who told how she had barely slept for ten days and how the episode had effected Julie’s grandmother, said she felt “sheer joy” and “elation” to have her only daughter back.
Government and independent media alike have constantly lionized el-Sissi and depicted him as Egypt’s saviour ever since he – as head of the military – led the army’s 2013 ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi after massive protests against Morsi and the power of his Muslim Brotherhood.
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“These are intense pressures and the people of evil try to circumvent all the successes achieved by Egypt”, he said on a short visit to Sharm al-Sheikh airport on Wednesday.
