UK flights officially return to Sharm El Sheikh after four-year hiatus: British tourism companies resumed flights to Sharm El Sheikh yesterday following a four-year ban imposed by the British government following the downing of the Russian Metrojet in 2015, the local press reports. Flights will run five times a week between Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham and Sharm El Sheikh from February through May of this year. National flag carrier EgyptAir will be operating direct flights between Gatwick and Sharm. The resumption of flights could increase the number of British tourists visiting Sharm each year to around 600k, according to experts quoted by the local press.

Background: The UK first imposed its flight ban to Sharm El Sheikh Airport after the downing of a Russian airliner in 2015 and only officially lifted it in October last year. Tui announced that it would relaunch flights from Edinburgh and Glasgow to Sharm in November 2020, shortly after the removal of the ban last year and EasyJet announced it would be doing the same, running two flights a week from Manchester from June and two flights a week from London Gatwick from September of 2020.