“Sharm El Sheikh Edges Back Into the Tourism Picture” –WSJ. The Wall Street Journal uses budget airline Germania’s decision to resume flights on 31 October — one year to the day from the downing of Metrojet flight 9268 over the Sinai — to argue that “Tourism from Europe to Egypt is poised to gain pace again more.” The story notes that Moscow is edging toward allowing flights to Egypt to resume, and quoted a UK government spokesman as saying the British are “continuing to work with the Egyptian authorities to address safety issues with the goal of resuming service ‘as soon as possible.’”

Speaking of Russia resuming flights: A delegation of Russian aviation specialists is expected to arrive tomorrow to test airport security, according to an unnamed source in Russia’s aviation authority, Russian state news agency TASS reported. The Egyptian government is also reportedly ready to dedicate airport terminals to Russian arrivals, an Egyptian embassy official in Moscow told Rossiya 24 television on Friday, TASS reported. Russian officials have yet to confirm they intend to lift the ban, Tourism Minister Yehia Rashed told Al Shorouk, optimistically adding he is “confident” that Egypt could climb back up to 10 mn tourist arrivals per year by the end of 2017. Some 14.7 mn tourists visited Egypt in 2010, the peak year for the industry.