British Airways
and easyJet have said they will continue to fly over the Sinai
peninsula, despite major Middle Eastern and European airlines announcing
they will avoid the area of Egyptian airspace where a Russian plane
came down on Saturday.
The biggest Gulf airline, Emirates, and its subsidiary flydubai, as well as Air Arabia, said on Sunday that they were rerouting flights around the peninsula, where a Russian Metrojet flight crashed soon after takeoff from Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all 224 people on board.
Lufthansa and Air-France-KLM have also decided to stop flying over the peninsula while the risks were assessed after an Islamic militant group claimed to have shot the plane down - a claim that Moscow has so far dismissed.
EasyJet said it would continue to fly holidaymakers to Sharm el-Sheikh - a popular winter sun destination on the southern tip of Sinai, as planned, but that it would actively review the safety of flights to Egypt.
BA said it had no plans to alter its flights to Sharm, but that it would not comment on exact flight routes.
“The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority, and we would never operate a flight unless it was safe to do so,” a spokeswoman said.
“Our safety team continually liaises with the appropriate authorities around the world, and we conduct very detailed risk assessments into every route we operate.”
An easyJet spokesman said: “EasyJet can confirm that following the incident in Egyptian airspace involving a Russian airline it is currently assessing the situation and taking advice from all the relevant authorities.
“Based on the information received to date, easyJet plans to continue to operate to Egypt to carry holidaymakers as planned to and from Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada, but will continue to actively review the situation.”
EasyJet said passengers who no longer wanted to fly would be offered either an alternative flight or a voucher. “The safety of our customers and crew is our highest priority,” the spokesman said.
The Metrojet Airbus A321-200 has reached 31,000 feet before it crashed, and experts have been sceptical that militants in Sinai would have weapons capable of shooting down a plane at such an altitude. That said, Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was flying at 33,000 feet when it was shot down over eastern Ukraine in July 2014.
The majority of the 298 victims of MH17 crash were Dutch, and AirFrance-KLM faced criticism in the Netherlands in its aftermath for continuing to fly over war zone. It acted quickly to rule out flights over Sinai after Saturday’s Metrojet crash.
Last year the International Air Transport Association called for better sharing of information between airlines in the wake of the MH17 crash and other threats. Such information is often jealously guarded and has led to airlines taking very different decisions over which airspace is deemed safe. BA has continued to fly over Iraq, but was already avoiding eastern Ukraine before MH17 was shot down.
Rerouting adds to carriers’ fuel costs.
The cause of Saturday’s crash is not yet known, but the black boxes have been recovered from the wreckage of the aircraft, which was bound for St Petersburg when it came down suddenly in a remote mountainous area. Egyptian security forces have been fighting local Islamic militants in Sinai for years.
The majority of the 224 victims were Russian holidaymakers, including 25 children.
The biggest Gulf airline, Emirates, and its subsidiary flydubai, as well as Air Arabia, said on Sunday that they were rerouting flights around the peninsula, where a Russian Metrojet flight crashed soon after takeoff from Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all 224 people on board.
Lufthansa and Air-France-KLM have also decided to stop flying over the peninsula while the risks were assessed after an Islamic militant group claimed to have shot the plane down - a claim that Moscow has so far dismissed.
EasyJet said it would continue to fly holidaymakers to Sharm el-Sheikh - a popular winter sun destination on the southern tip of Sinai, as planned, but that it would actively review the safety of flights to Egypt.
BA said it had no plans to alter its flights to Sharm, but that it would not comment on exact flight routes.
“The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority, and we would never operate a flight unless it was safe to do so,” a spokeswoman said.
“Our safety team continually liaises with the appropriate authorities around the world, and we conduct very detailed risk assessments into every route we operate.”
An easyJet spokesman said: “EasyJet can confirm that following the incident in Egyptian airspace involving a Russian airline it is currently assessing the situation and taking advice from all the relevant authorities.
“Based on the information received to date, easyJet plans to continue to operate to Egypt to carry holidaymakers as planned to and from Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada, but will continue to actively review the situation.”
EasyJet said passengers who no longer wanted to fly would be offered either an alternative flight or a voucher. “The safety of our customers and crew is our highest priority,” the spokesman said.
The Metrojet Airbus A321-200 has reached 31,000 feet before it crashed, and experts have been sceptical that militants in Sinai would have weapons capable of shooting down a plane at such an altitude. That said, Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was flying at 33,000 feet when it was shot down over eastern Ukraine in July 2014.
The majority of the 298 victims of MH17 crash were Dutch, and AirFrance-KLM faced criticism in the Netherlands in its aftermath for continuing to fly over war zone. It acted quickly to rule out flights over Sinai after Saturday’s Metrojet crash.
Last year the International Air Transport Association called for better sharing of information between airlines in the wake of the MH17 crash and other threats. Such information is often jealously guarded and has led to airlines taking very different decisions over which airspace is deemed safe. BA has continued to fly over Iraq, but was already avoiding eastern Ukraine before MH17 was shot down.
Rerouting adds to carriers’ fuel costs.
The cause of Saturday’s crash is not yet known, but the black boxes have been recovered from the wreckage of the aircraft, which was bound for St Petersburg when it came down suddenly in a remote mountainous area. Egyptian security forces have been fighting local Islamic militants in Sinai for years.
The majority of the 224 victims were Russian holidaymakers, including 25 children.
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