Russia, Egypt May Start Talks on Resuming Air Traffic by Year End

Russian Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov said that Moscow and Cairo intend to resume flights between Russia and Egypt and may start a dialogue on it in December.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Moscow and Cairo intend to resume flights between Russia and Egypt and may start a dialogue on it in December, Russian Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov said Wednesday.

"We may indeed start talking about it right now before the New Year, we may actually begin to work together, but this work is not easy and is very responsible," Sokolov told Rossiya-24 TV channel.

The minister added that flights to Egypt would resume only after Russian authorities made sure that safety controls at Egyptian airports fit the requirements.

On Tuesday, Egypt's Ambassador to Russia Mohamed Badri said that the talks on lifting Russian flights ban for Egypt were underway.

A Russian-operated Airbus A321 crashed en route from Egypt's resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg on October 31, killing all 224 people on board. The accident became the largest disaster in the history of Russian civil aviation.

Following the tragedy, Russia announced the repatriation of its citizens vacationing in Egypt and imposed ban on flights to the country due to security concerns.