UK Govt Confirms Flights to Repatriate Tourists From Sharm El-Sheikh

Egypt’s Minister of Civil Aviation, Hossam Kamal, assured Thursday that Egyptian airports comply with global security standards. On Thursday, U.S. President Barack Obama told KIRO Radio’s Dave Ross that he thought there was a chance of a bomb planted inside the plane, and that the USA authorities were taking the case very seriously. United Kingdom and USA officials have since said that they are concerned that a bomb may have brought down the plane and on Thursday Cameron said this was “more likely than not” the case.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest says the US hasn’t determined what brought down the Metrojet flight last Saturday, killing all 224 people onboard, but that evidence points to terror.

“The tone and content of the messages convinced analysts that a bomb had been carried on board by a passenger or a member of the airport ground staff”, the newspaper reported.

“The decisions that I am taking are about putting the safety of British people first”, Cameron said.

Officials have said US investigators were “in touch” with their counterparts in other countries who are investigating the crash.

At a press conference at Number 10, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi said he was happy with the security changes, adding that Cairo was “completely ready to co-operate”.

After a meeting on Wednesday of the British government’s crisis committee, COBRA, Hammond said Britain was advising its citizens not to go on vacation to Sharm el-Sheikh, which is visited by hundreds of thousands of Britons a year.

Downing Street said: “The Prime Minister held talks on the situation with president Sisi earlier today and, following further discussions with the airlines and the Egyptians we have agreed on a package of additional security measures that is being put in place rapidly”. Alexander Neradko also called for caution in publicizing speculation about the likely causes of the crash, saying investigators are considering all theories – including a terrorist attack.

“I think most of the people who were expecting to be home by tonight will be home by tonight”.

British airlines, easyJet and Monarch said they were planning a total of 15 flights on Friday to repatriate a few of the 20,000 British tourists now in the resort.

However, both Egypt and Russian Federation have said it is too early to draw conclusions.