British Airways on Thursday announced it would resume flights to Cairo on Friday. In a statement, the airline said after reviewing security arrangements the airline has decided to resume flights to the Egyptian city. No information on the nature of the security issue was provided.
“Following a thorough assessment of the security arrangements, we are pleased that our service to and from Cairo will resume from Friday,” the airlines said, reported BBC. “The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our priority, and we would never operate an aircraft unless it was safe to do so.”
The airline had suspended flights to Cairo last Saturday as a security precaution. The announcement was made after the UK Foreign Office warned citizens traveling to Egypt of a heightened risk of terrorism against aviation.
“Additional security measures are in place for flights departing from Egypt to the UK,” the travel advice issued by UK Foreign Office for British nationals said. “You should cooperate fully with security officials at airports.”
At that time, the British Airways gave little explanation as to what was the reason behind the move but said the safety and security of its customers and crew were its priority.
Notably, the UK, the US, and other countries have issued travel warnings for Egypt, citing ongoing political unrest and the potential for terror attacks.
German airline Lufthansa also suspended flights to Cairo on Saturday but the services were resumed the next day. Other airlines continued to operate flights to Cairo.
The suspension of flights to Cairo was criticized by an executive of state-owned EgyptAir who said the airlines had no logical reason behind for canceling the flight services. Younis Al-Masry, Egypt’s aviation minister also expressed displeasure at the airline’s decision to cancel the flights.
On Sunday, Egypt’s aviation ministry said that British Airways took the move without consulting Egyptian authorities.
