British Airways (BA) and Lufthansa on Saturday suspended their flights to Cairo for one week over security concerns. No other details were offered by the two carriers.
BA issued a statement saying, “We constantly review our security arrangements at all our airports around the world, and have suspended flights to Cairo for seven days as a precaution to allow for further assessment.”
The UK foreign office issued a travel advisory to British nationals planning to visit Egypt, saying “there is a heightened risk of terrorism against aviation,” and noting that flights from Egypt to the UK were receiving “additional security measures.” The foreign office asked passengers to “cooperate fully with security officials at airports.”
Lufthansa said it expected to resume flights today, Sunday, in a statement saying: “As safety is always a top priority for Lufthansa, the airline has today provisionally suspended its flights to Cairo while an evaluation of the situation takes place.”
In response, a source in EgyptAir told Al Ahram on Saturday that the national carrier will start using larger aircraft for flights to and from London this week. EgyptAir will continue to operate two daily flights to London.
According to Al Ahram, a British inspection team last week checked security at Cairo airport, and “The team praised security at the airport,” the source added.