British Airways and Lufthansa have suspended all flights to Egypt’s capital, Cairo; due to unspecified security concerns, giving no details about what may have prompted the move.
The British carrier said it was canceling flights to the Egyptian capital for a week.
Lufthansa has three daily flights to Cairo, two flights daily from Frankfurt and one from Munich, said normal operations would resume on Sunday 21st July.
“As safety is the number one priority of Lufthansa, the airline has temporarily suspended its flights to Cairo today as a precaution, while further assessment is being made. We do not have any additional information at this time.” Lufthansa said in a statement.
“We are re-booking customers who wish to travel this week on flights with alternative airlines. Customers who no longer wish to travel will be offered a refund.” A BA spokeswoman added.
“We constantly review our security arrangements at all our airports around the world, and have suspended flights to Cairo for seven days as a precaution to allow for further assessment.”
This comes after the UK Foreign Office updated its advice for Brits traveling to Egypt on Friday,
“There’s a heightened risk of terrorism against aviation. Additional security measures are in place for flights departing from Egypt to the UK. You should co-operate fully with security officials at airports.”
Cairo is included in an ‘orange zone’ meaning the government ‘advises against all but essential travel’.
The British Foreign Office also warned against “all travel to the Governorate of North Sinai, due to continuing criminal activity and terrorist attacks on police and security forces that have resulted in deaths”
“Terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Egypt. Although most attacks occur in North Sinai, there is a risk of terrorist attacks across the country.” the warning added.
Egypt Air continue operating 2 flights a day between Cairo and London Heathrow.
Tourism, a key source of foreign revenue for Egypt, has been recovering after tourist numbers dropped in the wake of a 2011 uprising and the 2015 bombing of Russian Airline Metro Jet, which killed all 224 people on board shortly after takeoff.