Egypt May Lose $273Mln Monthly After Russia, UK Cancel Flights

Egypt has estimated its financial losses in the tourism industry at $273 million per month after Russia and Great Britain canceled flights to the country, Reuters cited Egyptian Tourism Minister Hisham Zazou as saying Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – On October 31, Russian Airbus A321 flying from the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheik to St. Petersburg crashed in the Sinai Peninsula killing all 224 on board.

On November 6, Russia canceled all flights to Egypt until investigations into the crash are completed.

According to British government sources, the most likely cause of the crash was a bomb planted aboard the aircraft. After the crash, the UK canceled all flights to Sharm el-Sheik and began evacuating its citizens from the Red Sea resort city.

Adviser to the Egyptian Minister of Tourism Mohamed Yousef said last week that Russian and British tourists leaving Egypt would result in the country losing 70 percent of its tourists.

According to Yousef, some 3 million Russian tourists visit Egypt every year, while around 1 million British nationals go to the country’s resorts annually.

Revenues from tourism account for around 12 percent of Egypt’s gross domestic product, according to Yousef. Before the Russian plane crash, the nation expected to welcome some 10 million foreign tourists by the end of this year, with Russians making up the vast majority of holidaymakers.