Egyptian-Russian relations turns new page with flights

Egypt’s aviation minister will travel to Russia to sign protocol agreements as early as Friday to allow the resumption of Russian flights that were suspended after the 2015 bombing of a tourist jet, Egyptian sources and Russia’s minister said on Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo this week to discuss resuming flights and to sign a deal for a nuclear power plant as part of growing bilateral cooperation.

Two Egyptian sources said the minister would leave on Thursday for Russia, but did not confirm the date for signing the agreement.

The two governments may sign a deal on Friday allowing to resume Russian civilian flights, the TASS news agency cited Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov as saying on Thursday.

“We expect that he (the Egyptian minister) will come on Friday,” Sokolov said, according to the RIA news agency. Asked whether an aviation security protocol with Egypt will be signed, he said: “We expect that it will be signed.”

Moscow halted civilian air traffic to Egypt in 2015 after militants detonated a bomb on a Russian Metrojet flight leaving the tourist resort of Sharm el-Sheikh and killing 224 people on board.

The bombing and the Russian suspension were blows to Egypt’s tourism industry, a key source of hard currency. The industry has been struggling after the upheaval triggered by a 2011 uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule.

The return of Russian flights and tours could be a massive boost to tourist numbers that are still well below the 14.7 million visitors annually Egypt saw in 2010 before the uprising a year later and the unrest that followed.

The Airbus A321, operated by Metrojet, was returning Russian tourists from the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg when it crashed over the Sinai Peninsula and killed all 224 on board. Egypt-Russia investigations are yet to reveal the crash’s causes.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Cairo on Monday when he promised to resume flights soon as part of growing bilateral cooperation.

"President Putin affirmed Russia's intention to resume regular flights between Moscow and Cairo in the very near future," the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.

The Russian suspension has affected Egypt’s national economy negatively as tourism industry, especially the Russian, represents a key source of foreign currency to the country. The industry has been already battered after the 25 January 2011 revolution that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak and the unrest that followed.

The return of Russian flights and tours could be a massive boost to tourist numbers that reached 5.3 million tourists in 2016, compared to 14.7 million visitors in 2010.