British Airways surprised Egyptian aviation officials after announcing the suspension of all its flights to Cairo for 7 days as a precautionary measure, with the company's statement explaining that it will carry out further security assessments before resuming flights.
The statement, published on the website of the British newspaper The Guardian, said the company constantly reviews security measures at all its airports around the world, and that flights to Cairo had been suspended for 7 days as a precautionary measure to allow for further assessment. It added that the safety and security of its customers and crew are the company's constant priorities, and that it would not operate any aircraft unless it was safe.
In a related context, the British Foreign Office updated its advice for travelers to Egypt yesterday, asking all travelers to contact their airline. It already advises them against travel to Sharm El-Sheikh, and additional security measures are applied on flights departing Egypt for the United Kingdom.
In a statement, Germany's Lufthansa, which operates flights from Frankfurt and Munich, said: "As safety is Lufthansa's top priority, the airline temporarily suspended its flights to Cairo yesterday as a precautionary measure while further assessment is carried out," adding that it plans to resume its flights today, Sunday.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for French carrier Air France said in a statement sent to Reuters that its flights to Cairo are continuing, after communicating with the French and Egyptian authorities.
Emirates said in a statement that its flights are operating according to schedule, and that it is closely assessing the situation and communicating with the relevant aviation authorities regarding its flights to Egypt. The website of Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways also announced that its flights are continuing, noting that it is monitoring the security situation in Cairo.
According to Reuters, Egyptian officials said the airline had informed Cairo International Airport that it would suspend its flights to and from London for two days, and that the decision came after British security officials carried out routine security inspections earlier last week.
Egyptian newspapers published statements by civil aviation officials saying that the authorities had not been informed of any concerns regarding airport security before the flights were suspended, and that Cairo Airport had not received any notification of British Airways' decision, attributing this to an internal problem at British Airways.
They stressed that the decision was in line with security and political measures related to internal affairs, not Egypt, and pointed to a series of upcoming strikes expected to take place at Heathrow Airport.
According to The Guardian, the Ministry of Civil Aviation announced that the British security inspection carried out last week, which covered Cairo and Hurghada airports, gave both airports excellent ratings, and that all other airlines are still operating at Cairo Airport, while EgyptAir flights have not been affected.
It is worth noting that the Egyptian government has pushed for the resumption of flights to Sharm El-Sheikh, which were halted about 4 years ago. A number of members of parliament, while questioning transport officials in Parliament, said that Egypt had invested nearly 20 million pounds sterling to address the security shortcomings highlighted by the British government, and had also hired a British company specializing in airport security to train more than 6,000 Egyptian airport security staff in an effort to restart flights.
