Tourists swim in the sea in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, November 7, 2015. (Photo: Reuters)
The decision on when to resume Russia-Egypt flights may be made before the end of the year, Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said Saturday.
Russia suspended flights to and from Egypt shortly after an Airbus A321 plane en route to St. Petersburg crashed over the Sinai Peninsula soon after taking off from Sharm El-Sheikh on October 31, 2015, killing all 224 people aboard.
"If the Egyptian colleagues invite our commission by December, if the group works rapidly and prepares the corresponding report, we will inform the administration and if the decision is made by the authorities, it [the resumption of flights] can be launched before the winter holidays. But for now these are just assumptions," Sokolov told journalists.
Sokolov noted that the Egyptian authorities implemented almost every airport security measure demanded by Russia with the remaining ones including a biometric system tracking employee access to airports, to be put in place in the coming weeks.
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