German airline Lufthansa on Saturday suspended its temporary flights to Cairo "because of security concerns," hours after British Airways abruptly suspended flights to Cairo for a week due to security concerns, without giving details of the motive behind them. Step.
"Since safety is always a top priority for Lufthansa, the company temporarily suspended flights to Cairo where the situation is being assessed," Lufthansa said in a statement.
It later announced it had canceled flights from Frankfurt and Munich to Cairo on Saturday and would resume flights on Sunday without giving further details on the nature of the fears and threats it fears.
The decision came hours after British Airways announced in a statement earlier on Saturday that it would suspend its flights over the next seven days to Cairo due to security concerns.
The British company said in a letter to passengers posted on its website that it had taken the decision to suspend flights to Cairo "as a precaution to allow further evaluation" following a review of "security arrangements."
The airline said it would not allow a plane to fly unless it was safe. When asked to give further details on why the flights were suspended and security arrangements reviewed by the company, a spokeswoman said: "We do not discuss security at all."
Three security sources at Cairo airport told Reuters that a British crew was checking security at Cairo airport on Wednesday and Thursday. The sources gave no further details.
Travel Warning
The British Foreign Office warned in its directives to travel British nationals heading to Egypt from the "increased risk of a terrorist act targeting aviation" and advised passengers affected by the decision to contact the airline.
The British Foreign Office warns of "a high probability of terrorists trying to carry out attacks in Egypt, and although the majority of attacks are in northern Sinai, the risk of terrorist attacks is threatening across the country."
"Terrorists in Egypt probably have the intention and ability to target aviation," she said.
It is estimated that 415,000 Britons visited Egypt last year.
Egyptian response
In response to the British decision, Cairo International Airport authorities said British Airways' decision to suspend its flights to the country was due to internal affairs of the latter.
"We have not received a notification from the British Airways regarding the suspension of their flights to Cairo," said Ahmed Fawzi, head of the Cairo port company.
He added, according to the Egyptian newspaper Al-Shorouk (in particular) that British Airways did not tell us any comments about the security and safety rules at the airport.
He pointed out that the decision of British Airways to suspend flights to Cairo for seven days related to the internal company.
The Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement late on Saturday that "coordination was held with the British Embassy in the Arab Republic of Egypt, where it confirmed that this decision is not issued by the British Ministry of Transport or the British Foreign Office and is being audited in coordination with the agent of the British company in Cairo" .
"It has increased the seat capacity of EgyptAir flights to London, and a new 787 Dreamliner has been allocated for an additional flight from tomorrow to Heathrow Airport in London," she said.
Previous warnings
The British government has long advised against air travel from and to the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where a Russian passenger plane was blown up in 2015, except for necessity, but has not issued similar warnings against travel from and to Cairo.
"There is an increased risk of terrorism against aviation, and additional security measures are being applied for flights from Egypt to the UK," the British warning says.
Tourism is one of Egypt's main foreign currency sources and has begun to recover after the decline in tourism following the 2011 revolution and the bombing of a Russian passenger plane in 2015, killing all 224 people on board shortly after taking off.
The Islamic State Organization claimed responsibility for the attack, which prompted Russia to halt all flights to Egypt for years, as well as pushing a number of countries including Britain to stop flights to Sharm el-Sheikh, which has not yet resumed.