President Vladimir Putin’s chief of staff, Sergei Ivanov, said Moscow officials will need a minimum of several months to determine if the October 31 Metrojet crash was an act of terrorism.
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The deputy head of a Russian tourism lobby group said that thousands of Russians were flying home on regular commercial flights, but without their luggage.
A senior Russian official has said that Moscow’s decision to suspend flights is unlikely to be reversed soon. The planes belong to the emergencies and defence ministries and to a private cargo airline.
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond warned that if those suspicions are true, there needs to be a rethink of security at airports in areas where the extremist group is active.
The main bell of the St Isaac’s Cathedral tolled 224 times – once for each of the victim.
Tight security restrictions are limiting the number of services from Sharm to the United Kingdom, meaning many passengers are being forced to extend their trip by several days.
US and British officials have cited intelligence reports indicating that the plane was brought down by a bomb on board.
British media reported Saturday that a plane carrying tourists to Sharm El-Sheikh in August came within 300 meters of a rocket on Aug. 23.
Lines for departure were normal on Sunday, with most flights scheduled for the afternoon and evening, including those for Britain and Russian Federation.
“What we have got to do is ensure that airport security everywhere is at the level of the best and that airport security reflects the local conditions, and where there is a higher local threat level that will mean higher levels of security are required”, Hammond said.
According to a translation by the Mail on Sunday, a narrator in the new video can be heard saying: “By God’s will, and strong efforts of our brothers and soldiers on the ground in the province of Sinai, they brought down a Russian airplane, which carried over 220 Crusader Russians”.
The 11 flights today consisted of four by Thomson Airways, two each by Thomas Cook Airlines, Monarch and easyJet, as well as one by BA.
At Sharm el-Sheikh airport, Sisi promised the government would support the tourism industry.
“To be honest, we stopped flights to Egypt, not knowing the final version (of the crash), but we did this as a preventative measure, as a precaution”, he said.
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“There are many serious and responsible people in the West, who understand that the issue now is not just how to hurt Russian Federation, but that there is a real need to fight terrorists who threaten not only Russian Federation, but the worldwide community as a whole”, Reshetnikov said.
