MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin by his decree allowed regular flights between Russia and Cairo.
Relevant changes have been made to the presidential decree “On Specific Measures to Ensure the National Security of the Russian Federation and Protect Russian Citizens from Other Illegal Actions.
In accordance with the new presidential decree, dated Jan. 2, 2018, the temporary ban imposed on Russia airlines on commercial flights from the territory of Russia to the territory of Egypt does not apply to Cairo.
The presidential decree also cancels the recommendation to Russian tour operators to refrain from selling to citizens of tour products envisaging flights to Cairo.
The presidential decree dated Nov. 8, 2015 imposed restrictions on regular flights from the territory of Russia to the territory of the entire Egypt.
The new presidential decree is available for viewing on the official legal information portal.
According to earlier reports, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated readiness for opening direct flights between Moscow and Cairo following top-level negotiations in Egypt in mid Dec. 2017. Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov then said Russian airlines might resume flights to Egypt in early Feb.
The Russian Transport Ministry and the Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry have signed a protocol to resume flights, a representative of the Russian ministry said. “I confirm, the protocol has been signed,” the ministry official said. Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov and Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister Sharif Fathi signed the document in Moscow, the official said.
“The protocol will begin to be used temporary as early as in 30 days. The document entrenches the legal framework necessary for activities of authorized companies, which can proceed to carrying out preparatory procedures required to begin the resumption of flights,” the representative said.
“It is the first step towards the resumption of air travel between our states, which will possibly enable conducting flights to Cairo as early as next Feb.,” the press service for the Transport Ministry cited Sokolov as saying. “However, there is a lot of work to be done, as we need to conclude domestic procedures to resume flights. This work is being promptly conducted now,” he said.
The Russian government drafted a protocol on cooperation with Egypt in civil aviation security back in Feb.2017. According to the document, “specialists of a Russian legal entity” authorized by the Federal Agency for Air Transportation (Rosaviatsia) will control aviation security at Egypt’s airports involved operating flights to Russia. In March, Sokolov said Russia and Egypt had approved a draft protocol and said the only thing left to do was to determine the date and place where it would be signed. In May, a source told Interfax the Egyptian side “no longer demonstrated readiness to look for a compromise on the issue of the presence of Russian air security specialists at local airports,” which contradicted the draft document.
The work on the protocol began after the closure of air travel between Russia and Egypt in Nov. 2015, which was initiated by Russia following the crash of Russia’s Kogalymavia airlines plane over the Sinai Peninsula. All 217 passengers and seven crew members on board the plane en route from Sharm-el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg died. The Federal Security Service (FSB) recognized the incident as a terrorist attack.
