Image copyright
Getty Images
British Airways will resume flights to Cairo on Friday after services to the Egyptian city were suspended for a week because of security concerns.
In a statement, the airline said it had “reviewed security arrangements” and would restart flights.
No further detail was provided on the nature of the security issue.
German airline Lufthansa also cancelled flights to Cairo on Saturday but resumed services one day later.
On 20 July, British Airways said it would halt flights to Cairo for seven days. It now plans to resume services on Friday.
“Following a thorough assessment of the security arrangements, we are pleased that our service to and from Cairo will resume from… 26 July”, the airline said.
British Airways currently runs one flight from Heathrow to Cairo and back again per day.
BA provided little detail on its decision to suspend flights, and the move was criticised by an executive of state-owned EgyptAir as “without a logical reason”.
The country’s aviation minister, Younis Al-Masry, also expressed “displeasure” at the decision.
Travel advice
The UK government has strong warnings in place for travel to Egypt.
In its current advice, the UK Foreign Office says “there is a heightened risk of terrorism against aviation” in the country.
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) warns against “all travel” to certain parts of Egypt.
But Cairo is part of a safer region where the FCO only suggests reviewing its advice before visiting.
Following the bomb explosion that destroyed a Russian airliner over Egypt’s Sinai peninsula in October 2015 after it had departed Sharm El Sheikh airport, the UK was one of a number of countries to temporarily suspend flights to and from the country.