“The lights in Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada will not go off”, he said, referring to another Red Sea resort.
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Egypt will lose £181m ($280m) a month because of Britain and Russia’s decision to suspend all flights to Sharm el Sheikh after a plane crash killed 224 people, the tourism minister said.
British personnel are reviewing security at the Egyptian resort’s airport in the wake of the crash and it was also announced last week that United Kingdom personnel made recommendations ten months ago.
The halt on flights is a major blow to Egypt’s holiday industry as nearly a third of tourists in 2014 were from Russian Federation.
One Egyptian specialist told CNBC that the impact of the plane crash on tourism had been compounded by the suspension of flights and revelations about airport security. The geopolitical ramifications of the Metrojet incident will be of more concern to Russian premier Vladamir Putin who recently began airstrikes targeting Isis positions in Syria.
This is the second time Egypt faces a drop on Western tourism in less than two years.
Russia has sent specialists to conduct a safety audit of Egypt’s airports and to provide recommendations on additional measures, Arkady Dvorkovich, deputy prime minister, was quoted as saying by Russian agencies.
Masry Al Youm underscored the point with a cartoon showing a scoreline in Sharm El Sheikh stadium: “America and England 1 – Russian Federation 0”.
A few passengers said they were able to pay guards to bypass screening, while others claimed security workers were asleep or playing games on their phones.
Gevara Mohamed Eljafi, Head of the Tourism Chamber of South Sinai: “For example, [every year] we had one million, one hundred and five thousand Russian tourists, we had 495,000 British tourists and we had also, around 400,000 tourists from different nationalities”.
As was reported, representatives of the Belavia security service and management held working meetings with the top officials of the Sharm el-Sheikh worldwide airport, representatives of the Egyptian intelligence services, the police and the army.
The Russian ban has badly struck Egypt’s vital tourist sector, which represents 11 percent of its economy and nearly 20 percent of crucial foreign currency revenues. Returning passengers are only allowed hand luggage on return flights and larger suitcases are being flown to Russian Federation in separate aircraft. “But we have eight countries still sending their clients because they understand Egypt is increasing security at the airport and is taking fast action”.
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Belarus’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommended the Belarusian citizens to cancel tourist trips to Egypt. At the same time the ministry points to the controlled and safe situation in Egypt, including the capital Cairo, for business and other types of visits.
