Russian Federation suspends passenger flights to Egypt

More people are expected to be brought back on Sunday, he was quoted as saying.

“Most people left for two weeks – our usual holiday tour lasts two weeks – therefore they will return in about two weeks”, he said. “The Egyptian authorities have cooperated and continue to cooperate fully”.

British and US officials, guided primarily by intelligence intercepts and satellite imagery, suggested a bomb might have been aboard the aircraft.

“On November 6, 2015, at 20:00 Moscow time all the Russian commercial airlines and general aviation operators will suspend all regular, transit and charter flights with passengers on board to the points located in the Arab Republic of Egypt”, said the Federal Air Transport Agency.

The investigators said the cockpit voice recorder shows an explosion and the flight data recorder confirms the explosion is not accidental – there is no sign of mechanical malfunction during the initial part of the flight, France 2 reported.

According to reports, the growing global intelligence consensus believes that an affiliate of the Islamic State or ISIS planted a bomb onboard the plane before it took off. Both the United Kingdom and Russian Federation have temporarily suspended flights until the cause of the deadly plane crash is clear.

Officials had said on Saturday that almost 80,000 Russian tourists were still in Egypt, mainly in Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada, and that they would be able to return home at their own pace.

“It is necessary to explain that the Russian president meant a suspension of air communication with Egypt until a due level of safety of this air communication is established jointly with Egyptian partners”, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told journalists.

KLM’s decision follows a similar decision by the United Kingdom which resumed flights from Sharm El-Sheikh but only for passengers who would agree to travelling with just carry-on luggage.

The cause of the crash of the Russian jet, which could be the result of an explosive on board, a catastrophic mechanical failure, human error or an accidental explosion of fuel, remains a mystery.

The crash might have been caused by a lithium battery, an explosion or a mechanical issue, Muqaddam said, noting that the investigation was being hampered by bad weather.

In London on Thursday, Mr. Cameron was more emphatic about the cause, saying that it was “more likely than not a terrorist bomb” that had brought down the plane.