Following a suspension that followed the Russian plane crash in October 2015, Italy suspended its flights to Egypt. Recent news indicates that Italy will resume flights to Egypt’s Sharm al-Sheik Airport.
Official sources from the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation revealed last Thursday that an Italian passenger flight (Merdiana Airways) took off from Milan and landed in Sharm El Sheik airport with 167 passengers on board.
Merdiana Airways is supposed to fly twice a week from Milan to Sharm El Sheik airport, while it will depart from Marsa- Alam to Milan.
This flight was actually the first flight to land in Egypt, since Italy banned its passenger flights to land in Egypt.
It is to be noted that tension between Egypt and Italy escalated following the death of the Cambridge Italian student Regeni, who was found dead in Egypt.
According to Ahram Weekly, in 2010 one million Italians visited Egypt; Italy sent the fourth most tourists to Egypt. Many spots are main attractions to Italian tourists in Egypt; red sea resorts are the most visited by Italian tourists.
History also reveals, close ties between the two countries, since monarchy ruling in Egypt.
Minister of tourism Hisham Zaazou, declared that foreign security crews are visiting Egypt to review safety procedures at airports. Zaazou said that Sharm el- Sheikh and Marasa Alam airports are at the forefront.
It is expected that more efforts will be exerted, in order to revive the Egyptian tourism sector, which represents 11% of the Egyptian national GDP.
