Days following the controversial and sudden decision of British Airways to suspend Cairo flights, the airline has announced that it would flights would return to normal operations following the week’s suspension.
The airline released an official statement in which it revealed its decision following security examinations.
“Following a thorough assessment of the security arrangements, we are pleased that our service to and from Cairo will resume from Friday,” the airline stated.
The abrupt decision by airways was mirrored by Lufthansa on Saturday but just for the day; the latter had suspended flights from the cities of Frankfurt and Munich to the Egyptian capital with little explanation.
Egyptian authorities heavily criticized the move which was not announced to the airport or the officials prior to coming into effect. TV presenters and Egypt’s Aviation Ministry also echoed the criticism, expressing that the decision was not communicated despite its consequences.
Foreign and local passengers discovered the decision, without prior notification, as they were attempting to check in.
An official from the regional office of British Airways, Regional Customer Service Manager of British Airways Sherif Barsoum revealed that the airline has suspended the flights to review its own security systems and that it was not a decision made by the UK Department of Transport, as per Egypt Today.
The decision, however, created frenzy among passengers and tourists alike as it implied security defaults within Cairo International Airport despite the latter’s attempts at significantly increasing its security measures for the last year.
Since then, UK Ambassador to Egypt Geoffrey Adams has apologized for not informing Cairo International Airport authorities.
According to Reuters, there had been a round of security inspection by British staff at Cairo airport on last week, just days following the updated travel advice and flight suspension on Saturday.
As with most travel advice coming from Australia, the US and a majority of European countries, travel to most sites in Sinai Peninsula was advised against. The Foreign Office, however, added travel to Sharm El Sheikh (by air) and the west of the Nile Delta.
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