Thousands of British tourists stranded in Sharm el-Sheikh were told they would be able to fly home yesterday – but with only their hand luggage, because investigations into security at the airport centred on baggage handlers.
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The foreign ministry said the advice was based on an assessment of aviation safety made after fresh information was received on Friday, without going into further details. It took off shortly before 6 a.m. If the theory is correct, the 224 passengers and crew members on board were already doomed.
The Russian airliner mysteriously crashed on Saturday around 23 minutes after departure from Sharm el-Sheikh’s airport.
US President Barack Obama and high-ranking U.S. officials have said that they have received intelligence suggesting a bomb may have caused the crash.
Putin ordered the halt after a suggestion by the head of Russian intelligence, who said it was “reasonable” to stop the flights.
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. “In the meantime we are also developing a contingency plan so we can bring our customers home as early as possible, once we get permission to fly”, it said.
LONDON-Government and airline officials in Egypt and the United Kingdom offered conflicting stories about whether flights could resume between Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt and Britain.
“As long as we haven’t established the causes of the incident, I consider it appropriate to suspend the flights of Russian aircraft to Egypt”, FSB director Aleksandr Bortnikov told a meeting of the Russian Anti-Terror Committee on Friday.
Egypt’s Minister of Civil Aviation Hossam Kamal said the operation to bring large numbers of British holidaymakers from their hotels to the airport and then put them on flights without their luggage was “a huge burden on the airport because its capacity does not allow for that”.
ISIS has claimed responsibility for bringing down the plane, but Russian and Egyptian officials say the claim was not credible.
“We don’t know for certain that it was a terrorist bomb – (but it’s a) strong possibility”, Cameron said on Thursday.
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While the USA and Britain have stopped short of a categorical assignment of blame, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday it was “more likely than not” that the cause was a bomb – a claim dismissed as premature by the Russians and Egyptians.
