MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Germany's second-largest airline, Air Berlin, has changed its route to Egyptian resorts to avoid flying over the northern Sinai Peninsula due to the crash of Russia's Kogalymavia flight 9268 over the weekend, Air Berlin press officer Janina Mollenhauer told Sputnik Monday.
"We already do so since Saturday, as well as other airlines, but we are flying over Western routes to our destinations," Mollenhauer said.
The spokeswoman clarified that the airline’s planes originating from the north are now being routed over the western Sinai Peninsula toward the resorts of Sharm el-Shekh, Marsa Alam and Hurghada on the Red Sea.
The Air Berlin group is awaiting the results for the inquiry into the crash to assess the necessity to conduct an inspection of all its Airbus 321 planes. The company’s jets are currently undergo regular inspections according the highest international standards, the spokeswoman stressed.
Earlier in the day, Austrian Airlines also said the company would act according to its professional inspection plan until the investigation in the A-321 crash in Egypt had been concluded.
On Saturday, a Russian airliner, carrying 217 passengers and seven crew members crashed in the Sinai Peninsula en route from the Egyptian resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. Everyone on board, including 25 children, were confirmed dead by Russian and Egyptian authorities.
The tragedy has become the biggest civil aviation disaster in Russian and Soviet history.
