EgyptAir barred from Russia

EgyptAir barred from Russia
Moscow has prevented all EgyptAir flights from flying into Russia on Friday, after Russian flights to Egypt were suspended following last month's passenger jet crash in Sinai.
2 min read
13 November, 2015
EgyptAir's planes won't be seen in Russia any time soon [Getty]

Russian aviation authorites have banned EgyptAir from flying into the country, one of Moscow's airports revealed on Friday.

Russian flights between the two countries have already been suspended following the passenger jet crash in Sinai.

"The airport has received a telegram from the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency on the prohibition of EgyptAir's flights to Russian territory from November 14," a representative of Moscow's Domodedovo airport told Russian news agencies.

Russian aviation agency Rosaviatsia declined to comment.

The announcement comes a week after Moscow halted Russian flights to and from Egypt, as fears mounted that the Metrojet crash in the Sinai peninsula could have been caused by a bomb.

The plane, flown by Russian firm Kogalymavia, came down shortly after take off from resort Sharm el-Sheikh on 31 October, killing all 224 people on board.

The Egyptian-led probe into the disaster is still ongoing, but the UK and US have said a bomb could have downed the plane after an Islamic State-linked group claimed to have attacked the jet.

Russia says its flights were halted until adequate safety measures had been put in place at Egyptian airports, and has been flying out thousands of holidaymakers stranded in the country, without their luggage, which is to return at a later date.

A senior Kremlin official has said the flight ban to Egypt could last for months - and Russia's flagship carrier Aeroflot said it was not scheduling any flights to Egypt before March 27, 2016.