Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport received on Saturday the first Swiss flight after a five-year hiatus, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said.

The Swiss Air flight arrived in the Red Sea resort, coming from Geneva carrying 62 passengers, the ministry added in a statement.

Saturday’s flight is the first since the crash of a Russian plane in Sinai that killed all 224 people on board in October 2015. Since then, Egypt has upgraded its safety and security measures at all airports nationwide.

It also comes almost one month after the resumption of the Russian flights to the Egyptian Red Sea resorts of Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh.

The Swiss plane was received with the customary tradition of water cannon salute as a welcoming gesture marking the return of the flights to the airport. 

The passengers on board were gifted with flowers and souvenirs by airport employees, the statement noted.

Head of Sharm El-Sheikh airport Nabil El-Maleh said the Geneva-Sharm El-Sheikh flight will be operated once per week every Saturday.

Egypt has reopened its seaside resorts of Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada, and Marsa Matrouh to international flights and foreign tourists since July 2020, after a three-month halt over the coronavirus pandemic.

The number of tourists received by Egypt during the first half of 2021 was about 3.5 million with revenues ranging between 3.5 billion and 4 billion dollars, according to the Tourism Ministry figures.