UK’s Monarch Airlines Extends Sharm El-Sheikh Flight Ban to December 19

Britain grounded flights to and from the Egyptian resort city on November 4, leaving some 20,000 British tourists stranded in Sharm El-Sheikh.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The United Kingdom’s Monarch Airliner has extended the suspension of its flight to and from Sharm el-Sheikh until December 19, the company said in a statement following the publication of a UK Foreign Office (FCO) travel advisory.

“As a result of this change of advice Monarch has cancelled all flights from the UK to Sharm el-Sheikh up to and including Saturday, December 19, 2015,” the company said late Thursday.

The FCO’s updated foreign travel advice urges “against all but essential” flights to Sharm El-Sheikh due to suspicions that an explosive device was responsible for the biggest civil aviation disaster in Russian history that had taken place late last month.

The Airbus A321 operated by Russia’s Kogalymavia crashed in the Sinai Peninsula shortly after takeoff from Sharm el-Sheikh en route to St. Petersburg on October 31, killing all 224 people on board.

Monarch’s last flight from Sham El-Sheikh is expected to take off on Tuesday, November 17, a date the British authorities set as the last day to repatriate all UK nationals from the resort. British tourists willing to stay in the resort after that date have been advised to seek alternative routes home.

“It is imperative that all customers adhere to new flight dates and times to ensure that we are able to return all customers to the UK,” the airline said.