Zaazou calls for a working session bringing together German, Russian and British experts to resume flights to Sharm El-Sheikh
By Akram Medhat, Travel Yalla journalist
Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou met with German Ambassador in Cairo Julius Georg Luy to discuss ways of joint cooperation, especially in light of the current circumstances and the decision by a number of German tour operators to suspend their trips to Sharm El-Sheikh in the wake of the ill-fated Russian plane crash.
The minister expressed his appreciation for Germany's supportive stance toward Egypt, stressing the Egyptian side's commitment to full transparency in the investigations into the Russian plane crash.
Zaazou welcomed the visit of a German security delegation to Egypt in the coming days, to Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada and Marsa Alam, to see how things stand on the ground and the measures and procedures the Egyptian government is taking to secure tourist destinations.
The minister invited the German ambassador to hold a joint working session bringing together Russian, German and British experts to exchange views on ways to quickly overcome the current crisis and resume flights to Sharm El-Sheikh, noting their desire for Egypt to become a leading country in airport security.
The two sides reviewed aspects of joint cooperation between the two countries, the depth of Egyptian-German relations and the government's keenness to activate these bilateral relations, especially in tourism. He stressed the importance of German tourism to Egypt as a tourist destination, as Germany ranked third on the list of source markets for tourism to Egypt in 2014.
Zaazou stressed that the Egyptian authorities welcome requests by some airlines to take additional security measures on their flights, within the framework of Egyptian law and the international laws that regulate this, noting that the Egyptian authorities' understanding of these requests sends a message of reassurance to foreign companies and the tourism sector, and reflects the ability of Egyptian airports and authorities to respond quickly to any measures. He stressed the commitment of Egyptian airports to applying international legislation in the field of aviation security.
