Monarch Airlines Bans Hold Luggage for Passengers From Sharm El-Sheikh

The oldest UK airline, Monarch, announced on Thursday luggage restrictions for passengers returning from the Egypt’s resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Wednesday, the UK government banned all flights to and from the Egyptian city and introduced additional security measures amid concerns a Russian passenger plane may have been brought down by a bomb.

"Only one small item of hand luggage per customer will be allowed. This should contain only essential items such as valuables, travel documents, house and car keys and medication, cash and credit cards," Monarch said in a statement.

It added that the separate return of passengers' hold luggage will be arranged.

Earlier in the day, the company said it would operate three rescue flights in addition to the two scheduled flights to bring the tourists back home.

All Monarch flights from the United Kingdom to Sharm el-Sheikh up to and including November 12 have been cancelled following an advice from the UK Foreign Office.

The Airbus A321 crashed en route from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg on Saturday, killing all 224 people on board. The catastrophe is the largest in civil aviation in Russian and Soviet history.