Kremlin: Russian ban on flights to Egypt will last months

World Today

Mideast Egypt Plane ConspiraciesEgyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, right, looks at the remains of a crashed Russian passenger jet in Hassana, Egypt on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015. (Suliman el-Oteify/Egyptian Prime Minister’s Office via AP, File)

President Vladimir Putin’s chief of staff says that a Russian ban on all flights to Egypt in the wake of a Russian plane crash will last for at least several months.

Sergei Ivanov said on a visit to Finland Tuesday that it would be impossible to radically revise the nation’s security system in a short time, according to Russian news reports.

Putin suspended all flights to Egypt on Friday amid security concerns after the Oct. 31 crash of a Russian airliner that killed all 224 people onboard. U.S. and British officials have cited intelligence reports indicating that the plane flying out of Sharm el-Sheikh was brought down by a bomb on board.

Ivanov said Egypt needs to revise its security regime not only in Sharm el-Sheikh, but also at other airports.

Egyptian officials say European, Russian, and Middle Eastern teams are inspecting security measures at Cairo’s international airport relating to passenger and cargo aircraft travelling to their countries.

The head of Cairo’s international airport, Maj. Gen. Ahmed Genina says the officials from Russia, Holland, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar are examining the scanning of passengers, cargo and baggage as they enter the airport and make their way to aircraft. Security guards and caterers are also being inspected.

Several countries and airlines have suspended new flights to Egypt because of security concerns as suspicions focused on the possibility that a bomb caused an Oct. 31 plane crash of a Russian airliner that killed all 224 people onboard.

Associated Press