On Friday, Moscow suspended flights to Egypt, leaving almost 80,000 Russians stranded, mainly in the Red Sea resorts of Hurghada and Sharm al-Sheikh, and adding to the growing chaos facing many tourists.
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An Egyptian member of the worldwide team investigating the crash has told Reuters that they are “90% sure” that a sound heard in the last moments of the recording of the plane’s cockpit voice recorder was an explosion caused by a bomb.
Militants claiming affiliation with the Islamic State group said they carried out the attack, however the head of Egypt’s investigation team says no conclusions have been reached about what brought the airliner down.
Security fears nonetheless saw Russian Federation stop all flights to Egypt and Britain halt air travel to Sharm el-Sheikh, while several other countries have warned their nationals not to fly to the resort.
Hammond said the British government would push for higher security at foreign airports in risky areas, even if it means extra delays for passengers.
About 11,000 Russian tourists have been evacuated from Egypt over the past 24 hours in the aftermath of the deadly Russian plane crash, according to official data, TASS reported on Sunday.
Russian media said the disaster created many orphans, as many parents left their children with relatives as they went on vacation to Sharm el-Sheikh.
The crash might have been caused by a lithium battery or a mechanical issue, Muqaddam said.
“We have been told not to step out of the hotel for security reasons”, he said.
In a statement to Metro.co.uk, a spokeswoman for easyJet said: ‘ We are being advised by the Egyptian authorities that it will allow a restricted number of United Kingdom flights from Sharm el-Sheikh over the coming days.
‘Our plan is to bring home as many passengers every day as we can, and to prioritise those who have been delayed the longest.
Islamic State extremists claimed they brought down the Metrojet flight, without offering proof, saying it was in retaliation for Moscow’s airstrikes that began a month earlier against fighters in Syria.
A remembrance service was held in St Petersburg for the crash’s 224 victims, most of whom were Russian. That Isis recruited someone with access to the ramp at the sharm el sheikh airport to plant a bomb on the Russian jet.
A last-second noise heard on a cockpit recording has become the focus of an Egypt-led probe.
Egypt’s Tourism Minister Hesham Zaazou said Cairo regretted the suspension of flights and was doing all it could to secure its airports and tourist sites, adding that he would fly to Sharm al-Sheikh to oversee measures to support tourists there. Any kind of intelligence gathering before or after the crash should be shared because in the end, this is a global fight against terrorism in which any country can be a target.
Emirates airline, ranked world No. 1 by worldwide traffic, is already looking at its security procedures in anticipation of tighter rules, President Tim Clark told reporters in Dubai on Sunday.
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A Russian airliner crashed October 31, killing all 224 people aboard, about 20 minutes after taking off from an Egyptian resort area.
