MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia grounded regular flights to and from Egypt after its passenger plane came down over the Sinai desert on October 31, 2015 shortly after leaving the Egyptian resort of Sharm-el-Sheikh. Russian investigators said a bomb had exploded on board, killing all 224 people.
"January 2017 is a very plausible deadline for reopening regular air traffic with Cairo," Maxim Sokolov told reporters.
He said the final decision would be taken by the Russian government after it analyzed the results of an inquiry into the crash by an expert panel. "We aren’t going to rush this," he added.
Sokolov announced last fall that Egypt had greatly improved airport security in resort cities. On November 29, Russia forwarded to Egypt documents necessary for the resumption of flights.
Never miss a story again — sign up to our Telegram channel and we'll keep you up to speed!
