British Airways and Lufthansa abruptly suspended flights to Cairo recently over security concerns. But both the airlines did not divulge the precise security concerns. The response of British Airways was more playing with words. It said the flights to Cairo is suspended as a precautionary measure to allow for further assessment. Though both airlines have given a time for the resumption of the flights, there are a few who believe that if it was a serious security concern, it would take more time to address the concern andmay not be possible within the short length of time given by both airlines. It may be noted that Lufthansa said that it would resume flights soon to Cairo from Munich and Frankfurt. It is not reliably known whether the flights are in operation.
Tourism is a key source of foreign revenue for Egypt. The country is recovering after a drastic fall in tourist numbers in the wake of a 2011 uprising and the 2015 bombing of the Russian jet. The incident had resulted in killing 224 people on board shortly after takeoff. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State. Since then Russia too halted all flights to Egypt for several years. A number of countries including Britain suspended flights to Sharm el-sheik, which are yet to resume.
