8 flights to leave Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh for Britain: minister

Attempts to return thousands of British tourists stranded in the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh were thrown into chaos on Friday when easyJet said it had been refused permission to fly a few of its planes to Egypt.

Russia has suspended all Russian airline flights to/from Egypt, citing the ongoing investigation into the October 31 Metrojet Airbus A321 crash.

All 224 people on board were killed in what the militants described as revenge for Russian air strikes in Syria that began more than a month ago.

But concerns about terrorism could hurt the Egyptian economy, which relies heavily on tourism to places such as Sharm el-Sheikh for revenue.

“Egypt fully co-operates with the British side in the light of the resources of the airport and in accordance with worldwide security regulations”. Intelligence has since suggested that was not the case, however, and USA and British intelligence have since intercepted internal ISIS communications suggesting it was a plot.

This caused further problems as Egypt’s civil aviation minister said the volume of luggage being left behind by British passengers has disrupted operations at the airport.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin has also rejected Britain’s suggestion that a bomb is likely to have caused last weekend’s crash.

The airline said eight of its 10 planned flights had been suspended but two others, carrying a total of 339 passengers, are believed to have taken off.

The Russian suspension, covering all of Egypt, is even more sweeping than that imposed by Britain, which had halted flights to Sharm el-Sheikh only.

President Obama told the media “I think there is a possibility that there was a bomb on board and were taking that very seriously”.

Tourists have their documents checked by Egyptian police as they prepare to be evacuated from Sharm el-Sheikh airport, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, November 6, 2015.

The ambassador was confronted by frustrated British tourists as he visited the Sharm El Sheikh global Airport, who reporters described as “angry” and “exasperated”.

Militants of the Islamic State terror group in the Sinai Peninsula have claimed that they downed the plane.

Experts say the fact that debris and bodies were strewn over a wide area indicates the aircraft disintegrated in mid-air, meaning the crash was likely caused by either a technical fault or an explosion on board.