The British government informed airlines today that it has lifted the restrictions and ban on travel to Sharm El-Sheikh Airport. In a statement issued today by the British Embassy in Cairo, Minister for the Middle East and North Africa Dr. Andrew Murrison stressed that the United Kingdom had been clear that flights to Sharm El-Sheikh would resume when the security situation allowed, and said: "I am pleased today to announce the lifting of the current restrictions, and we will continue to work closely with our partners in Egypt and with the airlines that plan to resume flights in the future."
In a related context, British Ambassador in Cairo Sir Geoffrey Adams stated that the announcement comes after close cooperation between aviation security experts in the United Kingdom and Egypt, and that work will be done with airlines wishing to resume flights.
The British Transport Secretary also stressed in a statement: "We look forward to the resumption of services to Sharm El-Sheikh, and lifting the ban is the first step on this path. The safety and security of British nationals remains our top priority."
He said the decision is the result of close cooperation between aviation security experts in both the United Kingdom and Egypt, and is also due to improved security measures at the airport, adding that they will now work with airlines that wish to resume operating flights.
The decision coincides with the approaching start of World Travel Market (WTM) London, from November 4 to 6, which is the second-largest tourism exchange in the world after ITB Berlin in Germany, held in March.
For her part, Minister of Tourism Dr. Rania Al-Mashat praised the British decision to resume flights to Sharm El-Sheikh, noting that this step would boost bilateral relations between the two countries, and affirming that Egypt welcomes the return of British tourists to their favorite destination, Sharm El-Sheikh.
She explained that the decision confirms the British authorities' conviction of the safety and security Egypt enjoys, especially after the measures taken by the Egyptian government to strengthen the security system at all levels, whether at airports or in tourist areas.
The Minister of Tourism stressed that this decision will have a major positive impact on increasing inbound traffic from the British market, not only to Sharm El-Sheikh but to Egyptian tourist destinations in general, given the fears that the flight ban to Sharm El-Sheikh had raised among British tourists about visiting Egypt as a destination in general.
She added that the decision to lift the travel ban serves as a message to the world confirming that Egypt is safe, and that the Egyptian government places tourist safety as a priority it is keen to achieve by all means, in line with the international security standards applied at the world's largest airports. She pointed to the praise from specialized international bodies that visited Egyptian airports for the security measures at these airports.
The Minister of Tourism drew attention to international institutions' praise of the security situation in Egypt, as Egypt received this year's "Global Leadership in Tourism" award from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), in recognition of its efforts to strengthen the Egyptian tourism sector to make it more resilient and better able to withstand shocks.
The World Economic Forum's Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2019 also reported that Egypt achieved the fourth-highest performance growth globally in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, and that Egypt was the best performer among Middle East and North Africa countries on the safety and security indicator.
It is worth noting that British tourism recorded 436,000 tourists arriving in Egypt during 2018, up 36% compared with 2017, spending about 4.8 million tourist nights in Egyptian tourist destinations, despite the continued travel ban to Sharm El-Sheikh imposed by the British government following the crash of the Russian passenger plane on October 31, 2015.
