Since December 5, Pegas Touristik tour operator organizes tours to Egypt with a flight to Israeli Uvda. However, despite the extremely high interest for the destination from Russian tourists, according to the representatives of travel agencies, the demand for such programs is extremely low. Recall that the start of sales of tours to Egypt through Uvda became known in early November.

Intourist tour operator has launched tours to Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh on the basis of regular transportation with connections in Istanbul and Cairo and attractive prices for holiday - from 84 thousand Rubles ($ 1,261) for a week for two persons with a flight. Despite the three-year absence of Egypt on the tourist map of Russia, interest for this area continues to grow.

Due to the high demand, PEGAS Touristik operator starts its charter flight program from Moscow to Uvda on December 5, not on December 25 as planned earlier. Tourists will be able to stay in hotels of Israel and Egypt (Sharm el-Sheikh). The first three flights will be performed on December 5, 15 and 25.

The experts of tourist and aviation markets reported that there is no shortage of airplanes in this winter season. “The fact is that over the past two years, Russian airlines, specializing in charter transportation, have increased their fleet by 20-100%. New aircraft have appeared in the fleet of AZUR Air, NordWind, IFly. In the summer season, all these additional capacities were occupied mainly by Turkish program,” says the Director General of Vipservice Holding, Vice-President of ATOR, Dmitry Gorin.

Recall that on the eve of the visit of the Egyptian President to Moscow, the transport agencies of the two countries already discussed the possibility of resuming charter flights from Russian cities to such Egyptian resorts like Hurghada, Sharm el-Sheikh and Marsa Alam. The earliest date of starting is planned for mid-November.

Egyptian hoteliers are ready to meet the expectations of Russian partners - to give a discount on the accommodation of tourists from the Russian Federation. Recall that such an assumption was made by tour operators after the statement of the Russian President Vladimir Putin.

With charters to Egypt the “Turkish” scenario is more than likely. The Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at the Valdai Forum in Sochi, confirmed that charter flights to resorts to Egypt are "on the agenda", but clarified that the issue of flight safety between Russia and Egypt is not yet closed.

The President of Russia Vladimir Putin and his Egyptian counterpart Abdul-Fattah Al-Sisi agreed to restore air links between the two countries on a full scale. Experts expect that after launching a charter programs, Egypt will be able to host more than two million Russians a year.

The Presidents of Russia and Egypt discussed the issue of full restoration of air links between the two countries. The head of Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, clarified that besides the question of regular flights, the problems of charter flights to Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh, popular among Russian tourists, were touched too. “We noted that our Egyptian friends are doing everything necessary to increase the level of security. We will strive to resume charter flights on these routes in the near future,” the portal Kremlin.ru cited Vladimir Putin. Observers pay attention to the fact that the date of begining of flights has not yet been named. Apparently, it will become known after checking the conditions of compliance of security at airports of Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh.

“Aeroflot will resume regular flights between Moscow and Cairo since April 11. The flights will be carried out three times a week by the Airbus A320 from Terminal S of Sheremetyevo airport. Ticket sales are open”, - informed the press release of the company. The flight SU 400 will departure on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 20:50 and arrive to Cairo the next day at 0:25, the return flight SU 401 will be performed on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 1:25, arriving time to Moscow is 6:50. The cost of round-trip ticket in economy class from Moscow is 21 895 Rubles ($ 380). From June 12 to July 2, flights between the capitals of Russia and Egypt will be carried out daily due to the increased demand during the football tournament. "The resumption of flights required a significant increase of security measures. At present time this requirement was fulfilled fully by the Egyptian side and on January 4 the Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the resumption of regular flights", - reported the company.

“About 100 thousand Russians visited Egypt in 2017 despite the absence of direct communication between the two countries”, - said the Deputy Head of the Union of Tourist Chambers of Egypt Mostafa Khelil. "According to statistics for September 2017, 70,000 Russian tourists arrived in Egypt in spite of the absence of direct flights. It is expected that by the end of the year the number of Russians visiting the country will be 100,000", - said Mr. Khelil.

“Egyptian airline EgyptAir plans to carry out three weekly flights between Cairo and Moscow”, - reports the portal Egypt. "Three scheduled flights will be performed from Cairo International Airport to Moscow on a weekly basis starting on February 1, 2018. Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday are the preliminarily agreed days", - the message said.

On January 4, 2018 Rosturism announced about cancelation of restrictions for tour operators to sell tours to Egypt via Cairo. "President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on January 2, 2018 "On Certain Measures to Ensure the National Security of the Russian Federation and Protect Its Citizens from Criminal and Other Wrongdoing Actions". The document came into force on the day of its signing. In this regard tour operators can create a tourist product in Egypt on the basis of regular air communication with Cairo", - said the report of the ministry on its website.

“The agreement on the resumption of air communication with Egypt does not mean the automatic restoration of sales of tours to Egypt”, - said the Adviser to the Head of Rosturism Svetlana Sergeeva. "The Russian Ministry of Transport and Egyptian authorities signed an agreement on aviation security, this does not mean that flight communication with Egypt will be automatically opened. Until the appearance of an appropriate presidential decree on the resumption of air communication between our countries, it is premature to talk about this", - she underlined.

“Russia and Egypt have conformed a draft of the protocol on cooperation in the field of ensuring the safety of civil aviation”, - said the Head of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation Maxim Sokolov. "Egyptian side simply did not specify the date, place and the time for signing this agreement. At present time all the issues are conformed", - the Minister said in response to journalists' question.

“The Russian Transport Ministry has sent proposals to the government on opening regular flights to Cairo”, - told the Head of the Ministry Maxim Sokolov. However, he added that the opening of flights between Moscow and the capital of Egypt is "the question of the nearest future". Earlier, the Minister of Transport stated that the resumption of air links with Egypt will begin with the opening of regular flights between Moscow and Cairo.

According to the executive director of ATOR Maya Lomidze, two factors are preventing to make correct prediction on the New Year destinations. The first is sustained position of Egypt, which obtained in previous years not less than 50% of the winter tourist flow. And the second - a continuing trend of “last minute” bookings, due to which the actual picture will become clear only in the beginning of December.

“The decision of the resumption of air links with Egypt will be concluded after the Egyptian side will complete all the work in the field of the implementation of a comprehensive security plan”, - said the Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov. We are actively cooperating now with the Egyptian side in implementing a comprehensive security plan concerning the three largest airports in Egypt.

“The Egyptian authorities have to remove shortcomings, which were identified by Russian experts in the airport security of the local airports, in order to launch the flights between the two countries in winter”, - said the source familiar with the situation. "At Cairo, Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada airports a number of serious shortcomings of aviation safety is still not removed.

Following the results of the year the Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada will show the lowest level of occupancy for the last few years period due to the lack of Russian tourists - according to the data of "Journal of ATOR", which is referring to the report of the company Colliers International.

Egypt's national carrier Egypt Air airline has requested the Russian aviation authorities the time slots to perform weekly flights for the autumn-winter period. The head of Egypt Air Safuat Muslim He told reporters. "We sent the request to Russia about providing three flights a week, starting from October 30. In case of resumption of air links between Russia and Egypt, the company is ready to launch flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

The Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich expects that air traffic with Egypt will resume before the end of this year. Answering the question about a possibility that air traffic will be opened before the end of 2016, he said: - "I hope. At least the Cairo airport - there is a better situation.

“The security checks at the airports in Egypt revealed again a number of shortcomings, the resumption of air links with Russia before the end of the year is unlikely”, - said "Interfax" a source, which is familiar with the situation, on Monday. "For the last time at the Cairo airport a lot of various tests and checks were conducted in the framework of conforming it to all high Russian safety requirements.

The head of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation Maxim Sokolov has not confirmed the fact that flights between Russia and Egypt can be resumed in October.