Egypt refused to allow Russian controllers to airports

The resumption of air travel between the Russian Federation and Egypt is postponed for an indefinite period due to the reluctance of Cairo to allow Russian specialists in aviation security to be present at local airports and unsuccessful claims for the safe operation of terminals. This was reported by the Interfax agency with reference to the informed source.

"The Egyptian side no longer demonstrates the readiness to find a compromise in terms of the presence of Russian specialists in the local airports in the local airports, motivating this with their own power to ensure security, including Russian tourists, which contradicts the previously prepared project of the corresponding memorandum," the agency’s interlocutor explained.

He noted that the Russian side did not receive the next invitation from the Egyptian colleagues to conduct an inspection of compliance with security standards at local airports. “Thus, fears have been preserved that previously made claims on security were not eliminated,” the source of journalists emphasized.

Earlier, on May 12, the Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation, Maxim Sokolov, announced that the negotiation process to resume the air traffic with Egypt is ongoing, but there are no new decisions in this matter. “We are constantly in the negotiation process, unfortunately, after the tragic events of the year before last, but there is no news in this regard,” he said.

Air Forces with Egypt and Tournobe in this country were stopped by Russia in November 2015 after the crash of Kogalymavia aircraft, flying from Sharm Esh-Sheikh to St. Petersburg.

At the end of March, the media reported that Egypt completed the fulfillment of all the requirements of the Russian side in the field of airport safety and expects that the air traffic will resume in May of this year. On March 11, Sokolov said that Russia and Egypt agreed on the security protocol and now the document remains only to sign.

It was also reported that the Federal Air Transport Agency can overlap the Russian legal entity authority at Egypt's airports. In addition, Russian airlines will have to sign new agreements with the country's airports, because Russian civilian aircraft will be served according to the new rules.