Egypt-Russia flights to resume in Feb 2018: Aviation Minister

CAIRO – 15 December 2017: An Egyptian-Russian cooperation protocol in maintaining civil aviation security was signed Friday after a meeting between Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fathi and Russian Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov in Moscow, Egypt’s aviation ministry said in a statement.

The protocol intends to resume flights between Cairo and Moscow for the first time since 2015, starting February 2018, the statement added.


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Egyptian Aviation Minister Fathy traveled to Moscow on Thursday to discuss and sign the protocol with his Russian counterpart.

“Russian tour operators will be free to resume flights between the two countries starting February 2018,” Aviation Minister Sherif Fathi told Egypt Today.

Last week, Sokolov announced the Cairo International Airport to has satisfied all the Russian requiremets for aviation security, which paves the way for Russian flights to resume their activities in Egypt.


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Flights between the two countries were halted in 2015 after a Russian passenger jet crashed in Sinai, 224 people were reported dead.

Shortly after the crash, IS’ Sinai Branch claimed responsibility for the incident, which occurred in the vicinity of the Sinai insugency led by IS affiliates following the ousting of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

Egypt has exerted strenous efforts and adobted tighter security measures in airports since the terror attack to keep pace with international aviation security standards.

Earlier this week, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi received Russian President Vladimir Putin in Cairo to sign the construction deal of the Dabaa nuclear power plan as well as discussion the resumption of flights between Egypt and Russia.


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The Russian Aviation Ministry said in a statement that the protocol is deemed the first step towards resumption of flights between the two countries.

The protocol is highly anticipated to restart mass tourism from Russia to Egypt, for its first stage, direct flights will resume to Cairo and then will gradually resume to further resort destinations.