MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Irish aviation authority grounded on Wednesday its flights to and from the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh and the airspace over the Sinai Peninsula, where a Russian passenger jet crashed days earlier.
"The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) directs Irish airline operators not to operate to/from Sharm el-Sheikh Airport, Egypt or in the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula airspace until further notice," the IAA said in a statement.
IAA Chief Executive Eamonn Brennan said an update will be issued "once further information becomes available."
Hours earlier, British authorities said all Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport UK-bound flights were delayed, saying Kogalymavia flight 7K9268 "may well have been" downed by an explosive device.
A team of British investigators are currently assessing airport and flight safety at Sharm El-Sheikh. Defense sources told local media the theory of a bomb on board flight 9268 did not come from the wreckage at the crash site.
Egypt’s Ministry of Civil Aviation spokesman Muhammad Rahma told Sputnik Wednesday the ministry does not comment on various theories during an ongoing probe, saying the cause of the crash was still being determined. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi suggested earlier the investigation into the crash, led by his country's aviation authorities, may continue for months.
