Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to suspend all Russian flights
to Egypt on Friday after a recommendation by his chief of intelligence
for a halt until the cause of last week’s crash of a passenger jet in
the Sinai Peninsula is determined, as an official said pieces of
wreckage from the plane had been brought to Moscow to test for possible
traces of explosives.
The suspension came after several days of statements by British and
American officials that it was possible a bomb on board had brought down
the Russia carrier Metrojet’s Airbus A321-200, which crashed 23 minutes
after takeoff from the Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all 224
people on board. Russian and Egyptian officials had bristled at the
statements, saying it was too soon to tell the cause.
The suspension, covering all of Egypt, is even more sweeping than that
imposed by Britain, which had halted flights to Sharm el-Sheikh only.
“I think it will be reasonable to suspend all Russian flights to Egypt
until we determine the real reasons of what happened,” intelligence
chief Alexander Bortnikov Bortnikov said in televised comments. “It
concerns tourist flights most of all.”
Russia’s Emergency Situations Minister, Vladimir Puchkov, said wreckage
from the plane have been brought to Moscow for tests. “These are
necessary samples from all parts where traces of explosives could be.
All of these samples have been delivered to Moscow, and we are studying
them,” Mr. Puchkov said.
Britain’s efforts, meanwhile, to bring home hundreds of British tourists
stranded at Sharm el-Sheikh airport by its suspension of flights were
snarled by new security measures put in place for its planes, including a
ban of checking in luggage.
Tempers ran high among the crowds of tourists in the airport departure
lounge. When U.K. Ambassador John Casson appeared to reassure them, one
irate British tourist who had waited at the airport since early morning
hours, harangued him with angry shouts of “When are we going home?”
Britain had grounded all flights to and from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on
Wednesday, saying there was a “significant possibility” the Russian
airliner that crashed last Saturday, killing 224 people, was downed by a
bomb. But London approved the resumption of flights starting Friday,
though passengers were only allowed to take carry-on bags with them.
But Egypt prevented some flights from coming to pick up the tourists
because of the pile-up of baggage. Egypt’s Civil Aviation Minister,
Hossam Kamal, said there would be eight flights in all to the U.K. on
Friday, instead of the 29 planned earlier. He said the British airlines
are flying without passengers’ luggage, while Sharm el-Sheikh airport’s
storage can hold no more than 120 tonnes of luggage left behind.
“This big volume will affect the smooth operation of the rest of the
domestic and international flights,” said Mr. Kamal, adding that a cargo
plane would carry bags separately for each flight.
No-Go zones of airlines
British carrier EasyJet had been due to operate 10 flights from the Red
Sea resort but said eight would not be able to fly because Egypt had
suspended them. “We are working with the U.K. government at the highest
level on a solution,” it said in a statement.
Two other carriers, Monarch and British Airways, said they still planned to operate flights back from Sinai on Friday.
The development is likely to hinder Britain’s attempts to smoothly bring
back the estimated 20,000 U.K. nationals in Sharm el-Sheikh. Transport
Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said earlier Friday that “most of the
people who were expecting to be home by tonight will be home by
tonight”.
On the ground in Sharm el-Sheikh, employee Mohammed Abdel Fattah who
works as a handling agent for EasyJet, said two of the budget airline’s
flights to the U.K. have been checked in. He told the rest of EasyJet
passengers to return to their hotels “until there are new updates”.
“Why all of a sudden is everything on hold,” asked one of the stranded
British tourists, Carla Dublin. “We don’t know what’s going on.”
Mr. Casson, the ambassador, tried to reassure the tourists, saying that
British authorities will “continue to work until we have everybody
home”.
“There are challenging, difficult issues to work through, this is a busy
airport and we need to make sure people leave in a way that is safe,”
he said.
Early in the morning, the Egyptians carried out expanded security checks
as dozens of busses, ferrying British and Russian tourists, waited
outside the airport, the line stretching up to a kilometre as police
inspected each vehicle.
Russia and Egypt have dismissed Western suggestions that a bomb may have
caused the crash last Saturday, saying the speculation was a rush to
judgment and insisting the investigation must run its course. The United
States and British leaders have stopped short of a categorical
assignment of blame in the crash, but Prime Minister David Cameron said
on Thursday it was “more likely than not” that the cause was a bomb.
The crash prompted companies to ground flights from and to the Red Sea
resort, stranding thousands of tourists this week. Britain later said
additional security measures would be in place, including only allowing
passengers to carry hand baggage, while checked luggage will be
transported separately. The carry-on measure applies only to those
departing from Sharm el-Sheikh, British officials said.
Inside the crowded airport, British tourists said they were just anxious to get home.
“We were in the first flights that were cancelled Wednesday night, we
were already queuing to board,” said Amy Johnson, a 27-year-old British
administrative assistant hoping to catch one of EasyJet flights out.
Standing in a crush of people waiting to pass through security, Terrance
Mathurian, a British builder vacationing with his family, said hotel
staff told them in the morning to head to the airport, following
conflicting information.
The British Department for Transport said travellers should not leave
for the Sharm el-Sheikh airport unless they have a confirmed flight and
asked for “people’s patience at this difficult time”.
Meanwhile, Dutch carrier KLM announced it instructed its passengers
leaving from the Egyptian capital of Cairo that they can only take hand
luggage on the plane departing Friday. A statement on KLM’s website says
the measure is “based on national and international information and out
of precaution”.
KLM, which has no direct flights to Sharm el-Sheikh, did not elaborate
on the unusual measure. Nothing has been revealed so far from the
ongoing investigation into the plane crash.
Security officials at the Cairo airport told The Associated Press that
flight KL554 left for Amsterdam on Friday morning with only 115
passengers out of the 247 who were booked on the flight. The rest
refused to leave without taking their check-in bags, said the officials,
who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said his government’s decision was
linked to lax security. “We have the impression that there are
insufficient security measures there,” he told reporters in The Hague
and added that the advisory did not cover the whole of Egypt.
Air France said in a statement to the AP on Friday that it is
reinforcing screening in Cairo and monitoring the situation with
Egyptian authorities. France’s Foreign Ministry on Friday urged its
citizens to avoid Sharm el-Sheikh and also the Sinai resort of Taba as
well as surrounding areas, unless they have an “imperative reason” to
go.
The Islamic State group, which has not generally pursued “spectacular”
attacks outside its base in Syria, has claimed responsibility for
bringing down the plane, but Russian and Egyptian officials say the
claim was not credible. Russia is conducting an air war in Syria against
Islamic State militants who have promised retaliation.
Earlier this week, two U.S. officials told the AP that images from U.S.
satellites detected heat around the jet just before it went down. The
infrared activity could mean several things, including a bomb blast or
an engine exploding because of a mechanical breakdown.
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