A general view of Naama bay and a swimming pool of a hotel during sunset in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Reuters
The flights will continue until 11 October to transport groups of tourists from Libya to the Egyptian Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh, said Chairman of EgyptAir Amr Abul-Enein.
The flag carrier will operate a weekly flight between the two airports on board Boeing B737-800 aircraft, which is capable of carrying up to 154 passengers, to promote Libyan tourism flow to Egypt, added Abul-Enein.
In September last year, Egypt and Libya resumed flights from Tripoli to Cairo after seven years of hiatus over turmoil in the Libyan territories. The two countries also reactivated the direct flight service between Cairo and Benghazi in April this year.
Egypt, which counts on tourism revenues as a vital source of foreign currency for the country, has announced plans to explore alternative tourism markets in light of the Russia-Ukraine war ongoing since February.
The Ukraine-Russia conflict has dealt Egypt’s tourism sector a heavy blow with both Russian and Ukrainian markets being among the largest markets for tourism to Red Sea areas in Egypt.
The tourism sector in Egypt was also affected by the coronavirus impacts with the number of tourists reportedly dropping to 3.7 million in 2020 from 13 million in 2019 before rising to 7.6 million in 2021.
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