Airport staff stand next to an EgyptAir plane on the runway at Cairo Airport (Photo: Reuters)
EgyptAir CEO Sherif Fathy criticised the Russian state aviation agency Rosaviatsiya for banning EgyptAir flights to Moscow over security concerns, calling the decision "surprising," Ahram newspaper reported on Saturday.
Fathy said that Rosaviatsiya had requested that EgyptAir submit a Russian-language report on its security manual, stressing that the report was delivered within 24 hours of the request.
Fathy added in media statements that Russian officials told EgyptAir that they needed 40 days to study the manual and that flights to Moscow would be suspended starting Saturday, without saying when they would resume.
Earlier Saturday, Russian transport minister Maxim Sokolov said that the ban on Egyptian flights travelling to Russia was a result of the deadly crash of a Russian airliner in Sinai on 31 October which killed all 224 people on board.
Sokolov's comments were the first to officially link the EgyptAir flight ban, which he said was due to concerns over the company's safety measures, and the Russian plane crash in Sinai.
Last week, in the aftermath of the deadly crash of AirBus A-321 over Sinai, Russia suspended all its flights to and from Sharm El-Shiekh, saying it has no timeline to resume flights.
Egypt has opened an investigation into the causes of the crash, allowing Russia and other concerned parties to take part.
Despite suspicion the crash of the flight which was on its way from Sharm to St. Petersburg might have been caused by a bomb on board, no final findings have been made. EgyptAir runs three weekly direct flights from Cairo to Moscow on Saturdays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
This Saturday's flight to Moscow was cancelled on Friday. EgyptAir booked different affected passengers.
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