Russian tourists arrived to Hurghada International Airport for the first time since 2015, and were welcomed by a delegation from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the office of the Egyptian General Authority for Tourism Activation in Hurghada.
The EgyptAir flight from the Russian capital brought 300 tourists to Hurghada on Monday, 9 August, while a second flight is expected to bring further Russia holidaymakers to Sharm el-Sheikh on Tuesday, 10 August.
EgyptAir CEO, Amr Abulenein, told AFP that the national airline company is likely operating a total of seven flights a week between Moscow and Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh.
“Very pleased to receive the coming delegations in the coming days from all countries. Egypt’s precautionary measures and ensuring the safety and security of our guests and staff were true assurance for the return of tourism from many countries,” Lamia Kamel, Assistant Minister for Promotion at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, said in a statement.
On July 8, Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to overturn a 2015 decree banning charter flights to Egyptian resorts, which ended a six-year hiatus on travel for Russian tourists.
The air travel ban to Egypt initially took effect in 2015 after a bomb planted by terrorists crashed a Russian passenger plane over the Sinai Peninsula and killed all 224 people on board.
After resuming direct flights to Cairo in 2018, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Russian President Putin agreed during a call on April 23 to resume flights to Egypt’s Red Sea resort towns.
To maintain safety precautions and protect visitors from the COVID-19 virus, Egypt’s Ministry of Health announced earlier in June that Egypt has fully vaccinated staff in key resorts and hotels in the Red Sea and South Sinai governorates to prepare to receive tourists in the summer.
To visit Egypt, travelers must carry a negative COVID-19 PCR test certificate from their country issued up to 72 or 96 hours prior to the time of departure.
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