Egyptian President Makes First Visit to Sharm El Sheikh Since Crash

The Metrojet plane crashed in the Sinai peninsula shortly after take-off en route to St Petersburg on 31 October.

A few in the USA are anxious there may be gaps in security for airport workers.

British officials regularly visit Sharm el-Sheih’s airpot to check its security procedures.

The plane disaster prompted Russian Federation to halt normal flights to Egypt, and Britain restricted flights to Sharm el-Sheikh.

A spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board said the agency received its first formal request for information Wednesday from Egyptian authorities about the continuing probe.

The emergency visit last Wednesday was more intensive and focused especially on a review of the airport’s CCTV coverage of the baggage handling system, which found worrying flaws.

Concerns were also raised about unlit corners of the airport that were hard to monitor and security guards playing on their phones instead of manning X-ray machines.

“The people defy the conspiracy – Egypt will not cave in to pressures”, read the front-page headline of the state-owned Al-Gomhur newspaper.

Tourism minister Hesham Zaazou said Russian and British holidaymakers accounted for two-thirds of tourist traffic to Sharm el Sheikh, while Russians alone made up half the tourists in Egypt’s other main Red Sea destination, Hurghada. “As a result we can confirm all flights from Sharm el Sheikh will return to the United Kingdom by Monday 16 November, which will allow all but a small number of customers to return home on the final day of their holidays”.

He believes that the occupancy rates in hotels will decline by 90 per cent after the departure of 79,000 Russians and 20,000 Brits, as well as Belgian and German tourists.

Sisi checked out security at the airport – where it is feared an explosive device may have been placed on the Airbus A321 – and met with tourists.

“The king stressed full confidence in Egyptian security, army and government”, it said.

“They looked back on CCTV footage of the search areas and things over the previous couple of days”, he said.

On Tuesday, Guevara el-Gafy, chairman of the South Sinai Travel Agents Association, said: “Losing 40 percent of our clients will lead to losing around 50 percent of the tourism income in Sharm al-Sheikh and South Sinai”.

EFG-Hermes, one of the Middle East’s largest investment banks, also expected that the move would not boost dollar liquidity in Egypt, which faces a long-running currency crisis.