Easyjet to resume scheduled flights from Sharm el Sheikh to repatriate UK

The bombing theory emerged late Wednesday, when Britain suspended flights from Sharm el-Sheikh to the United Kingdom because of security fears.

In the Netherlands, a KLM spokeswoman would not elaborate on the Dutch carrier’s decision to only allow passengers to take hand luggage on board a plane that left Cairo airport on Friday.

The low-priced carrier said eight out of 10 scheduled flights out of the Sinai region wouldn’t take off on Friday but Monarch and British Airways still planned to operate their flights.

But the pile-up of checked-in luggage overwhelmed the airport’s storage facilities and was disrupting operations of other flights, Egypt’s civil aviation minister, Hossam Kamal, said.

Joining a string of airlines in avoiding Sharm el-Sheikh, the Lufthansa Group announced its subsidiary Eurowings would halt flights between Germany and the Red Sea resort, while Turkish Airlines also cancelled two flights.

Casson says “our aim is to get as many people home as soon as possible” adding there would be more flights out Friday.

If you’re cancelling a trip to Sharm el-Sheikh we’ll cancel your Holiday Extras booking without any admin charges: please use this cancellation form or call us on 0800 977 4276 (or +44 1303 816 498 if you’re calling from abroad).

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said it was hoped to clear most of the backlog of passengers by the end of the day.

“When are we going home?” shouted one Briton forced to spend another night in a Sharm hotel. “There are challenging, hard issues to work through, this is a busy airport and we need to make sure people leave in a way that is safe”.

In the morning, Egyptians carried out expanded security checks as dozens of buses ferrying British and Russian tourists waited outside the airport, the line stretching up to a kilometer (half mile) as police inspected each vehicle.

The Government gave permission for the flights to go ahead following talks between the Prime Minister and Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, and further discussions with the airlines and Egyptian authorities.

The crash prompted companies to ground flights from and to the Red Sea resort, stranding thousands of tourists this week.

Britain said it was hoping security measures at the airport are beefed up before it resumes flights.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to suspend Russian air traffic with Egypt until the cause of the crash of Metrojet Flight 9268 can be determined, the Kremlin said Friday.

Another tourist, Terrance Mathurian, a British builder travelling with his family, said they were told by hotel staff in the morning to head to the airport, following conflicting information.

Flight KGL9268, which was flying from Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg, crashed in the Sinai Peninsula on 31 October.

Western intelligence sources said a few of the assessment about the bomb came from intercepted communications both from suspected militants and from one or more governments involved in the investigation.

All customers booked to travel to Sharm el Sheikh in this period will be provided with a full refund or can amend to any holiday now on sale.

European investigators who analyzed the two flight recorders from the Metrojet plane that went down last weekend in Egypt are categorically saying the crash is not an accident, CNN affiliate France 2 reported Friday.

He said he realised the “gravity” of the situation after seeing news of the Government’s announcement.

Minister Bert Koenders told reporters Friday in The Hague: “We have the impression that there are insufficient security measures there”.

Egypt maintains there is nothing wrong with the Sharm el-Sheikh airport, the main entry to Sinai beach resorts. Russian Federation is conducting an air war in Syria against Islamic State militants who have promised retaliation.