Egypt’s Hurghada International Airport received on Wednesday the first EasyJet flight since the coronavirus outbreak coming from London’s Gatwick Airport with 131 passengers on board, Egypt’s civil aviation ministry said.

The ministry added that necessary precautions were adopted, including sterilisation, temperature measurement, social distancing and adherence to the guidelines announced at the airport.

Minister of Civil Aviation Mohamed Manar said Egypt wants to boost tourism, open new markets, and attract travellers from different parts of the world.

The EasyJet flight is the UK's first flight to Hurghada since it had suspended flights at the outset of the coronavirus outbreak last spring.

Passengers arriving at Hurghada International Airport from UK aboard EasyJet on 2 September, 2020. (Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Civil Aviation)

Late in August, Egypt said it received 126,000 tourists since it has resumed international flights on 1 July. More than 600 hotels have met the safety protocols necessary to reopen at a reduced occupancy rate of 50 percent.

Some 415,000 Britons visited Egypt in 2018, according to British government estimates, making the UK one of the leading tourism markets in Egypt.

The aviation ministry previously said that Hurghada airport will receive four weekly EasyJet trips from London’s Gatwick Airport on Saturdays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays as of 2 September, while two weekly trips will be operated from Manchester on Saturdays and Wednesdays.

The ministry added that two weekly EasyJet flights will be operated from Manchester to Sharm El-Sheikh on Sundays and Tuesdays and one weekly flight will be operated from Gatwick to Sharm El-Sheikh starting September.

Prior to the pandemic outbreak, EasyJet resumed flights to Sharm El-Sheikh in February 2020 for the first time in over four years following the lifting by the UK government of a ban on direct flights to the popular Red Sea resort late last year.

Meanwhile, travellers entering Egypt at any of four airports in the Red Sea governorate and South Sinai can take a coronavirus test upon arrival, which would exempt them from submitting previously-requested negative PCR test results taken before boarding.

The four airports are the Sharm El-Sheikh and Taba airports in South Sinai, and the Hurghada and Marsa Alam airports in the Red Sea governorate.

Passengers arriving at these airports as of 1 September can take the coronavirus test for $30 if they do not already have their own PCR test result. 

Earlier last month, the Egyptian authorities decided incoming travellers must submit negative PCR test results at their port of entry due to increasing coronavirus infections in some countries. The tests must have been taken no more than 72 hours before the date of arrival. 

Passengers arriving at Hurghada International Airport from UK aboard EasyJet on 2 September, 2020. (Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Civil Aviation)