Moscow bans Egyptian national carrier from flying to Russia

In the aftermath of the airliner crash, Russia banned civilian flights to Egypt, but allowed airlines to fly from Egypt to Russia to bring Russian citizens back to their homeland.

The announcement comes a week after Moscow halted Russian flights to and from Egypt as fears mounted that the Airbus jet crash in the Sinai peninsula could have been caused by a bomb.

He did not disclose the specific country where the recording will be sent. The investigation team has said the recordings include a last-second noise.

The content of the FDR were extracted and validated, said Egypt’s aviation ministry days after the crash.

“Some countries and Western media have created this unusual atmosphere… in that we were surprised by this quick and fierce media campaign pointing to a terrorist act without proof”, Kamal said.

Officials had already banned domestic airlines from flying to anywhere in Egypt over concerns a bomb may have downed the Russian airliner that crashed shortly after taking off from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh two weeks ago.

Kamal also stressed that the original tape would not be transported out of Egypt, which has been leading the investigation alongside representatives from other nations, including Russian Federation, France, Germany and Ireland.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri said last Tuesday that Egypt “accepted the application” of American investigators “associated with manufacturers” of the engine of the jet.

Kazakhstan followed suit and announced a suspension to all tourist flights to Egypt. The former Soviet Republic’s Civil Aviation Committee stopped all flights to Egypt with immediate effect, with the sole exception being one flight meant to evacuate Kazakh tourists stuck in Egypt. The ban is to remain effective at least until the ultimate cause of the Metrojet crash is determined.