Egyptian airport’s safety exposed by Harrogate holidaymaker who skipped

“Outbound flights from the United Kingdom to Sharm el-Sheikh remain suspended and the Foreign Office continues to advise against all but essential travel by air to or from Sharm el-Sheikh airport but we are continuing to work with the Egyptians to get back to normal service as soon as possible”.

While waiting, he and his partner, Joanne, were approached by a security guard who gave them the opportunity to bypass all security checks for just £20.

Mahgoub denied the staff change was linked to the mounting scrutiny around the level of airport security at Sharm el-Sheikh, but the British government is among those increasingly convinced that a bomb had been smuggled on to the plane.

After handing their money over, the Harrogate couple were led by the security member past the queues, passport and baggage check, before proceeding straight to their gate.

Speaking to Newsweek Chris Yates, founder and director of aviation security consulting firm Yates Consulting, says the level of security measures at Sharm el-Sheikh airport are “patchy at best”.

He told Sky News: “The queues were terrific”. We said “Ah, we’d had a really nice holiday, we’d really like to get home, but look at the queues”.

British experts said today they believed a bomb was placed in the hold prior to take-off, and at least one tourist has spoken of how he and his wife were offered the opportunity to skip long queues for a small sum.

“We were taken right to the plane, we never had our luggage scanned”.

‘In fact, I walked through security and it set off the alarms, and when they asked me to empty my pockets and saw I had my wallet and phone and auto keys in there, they just waved me on.

‘At no point did my luggage go through any scanner.

Another, Verna McKeich, said: “I was shocked by the lack of airport security”.

“At the time it was quite amusing that for us, for £20, we’d avoided all the queues”.

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He said: “It was only when we were listening to the news the other day and heard what had happened that we thought that could have been us”.

“…And we also talked about the actions needed to make sure that this will not have any negative ramifications on the future of tourism in Egypt, and that in the soonest time possible we restore the movement of tourists, of British tourists, to Egypt. Those who come to Egypt to enjoy their time; those who we are very happy to receive in our country”. Consequently, the Government has decided, in consultation with the airlines, that flights from Sharm to the United Kingdom will resume tomorrow.