Russia awaits Egypt to fulfill airport security obligations

Thursday 21-07-2016 03:48 PM

Remains of the Russian airplane that crashed over the Sinai in October, 2015

CAIRO, Jul 21 (Aswat Masriya) - An official at the Russian Transportation Ministry said on Wednesday that the expert committee looking into the Sharm el-Shiekh crash that killed over 200 passengers last October, is still waiting on its Egyptian counterpart to fulfill its obligations in the investigation. 

"The date of the next inspection is currently unknown. Everything depends on the pace of the Egyptian side in fulfilling the demands of Russian experts on airport security," the official told the Russian news agency TASS.

Last June, Egyptian officials stated they were waiting for the arrival of a Russian delegation to inspect the security measures adopted in Egypt's airports. Meanwhile, Moscow said it had not received any response from Cairo on its recommendations.

The implementation of all Moscow's demands is a prelude to the resumption of Russian flights to Egypt, after flights were suspended following the airplane crash.

Last October, a Russian plane crashed in the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people on board. The plane was heading from the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg in Russia. 

The Egyptian Minister of Aviation and his Russian counterpart decided to cooperate in the field of civil aviation security during their meeting in Moscow earlier this week.

Russia believes that a "terrorist act" was behind the plane crash, while Egypt denies the claim, maintaining that there is no evidence yet.

Egypt's tourism industry, a vital source of foreign currency, has been hit hard since the crash. According to a report by the state's official statistics agency CAPMAS released earlier this month, Egypt lost over half of its tourists last May.

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