While the official probe into last weekend’s crash of the Russian A321 passenger jet in the Sinai peninsula proceeds, TASS has polled several experts of authority for their off-the-cuff opinions on what may have caused the disaster. The three most-frequently mentioned likely factors are a bomb planted in the plane’s rear, engine failure or fatigue cracks that caused the fuselage to fall apart. St. Petersburg — destination of the ill-fated flight carrying holidaymakers from the Egyptian tourist resort of Sharm El-Sheikh — is in the third day of mourning for victims of Russia’s worst-ever air disaster — 224 passengers and crew, including 25 children.

Experts working at the scene of the Saturday Sinai crash have found elements that are not components of the crashed A321 airliner, informed sources in Cairo have told TASS. "They have been sent for an expertise," one of the sources said. TASS has no official confirmation of this information at the moment. Kogalymavia Flight 9268 came down about half-an-hour after leaving the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for the Russian city of St. Petersburg. The disaster site is 100 kilometers south of the administrative centre of North Sinai Governorate, the city of Al-Arish. All 224 aboard the plane perished.

Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou has not cancelled his pre-scheduled visit to London for WTM tourism fair, but delayed it to the evening to follow up the updates of the Russian aircraft crash. The Ministry of Tourism is currently coordinating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Egyptian Ambassador in Moscow to discuss his visit to Russia directly from London to meet with tour operators by the weekend.

In the wake Saturday morning’s crash of the Russian A321 jet in the Sinai Peninsula en route from Sharm al-Sheikh to St Petersburg, customers of Russian tour companies have been trying to cancel package tours that includes flights by the jets of the Kogalymavia airline, Maya Lomidze, the executive director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia told TASS. "There’ve been requests for annulling the tours or changing the airline," she said.

A senior manager of the Kogalymavia air carrier, whose A321 passenger liner crashed in Egypt last Saturday, has blamed the disaster on major damage caused to the plane’s frame in flight. "The plane went out of control. It was not flying. It was falling," said Viktor Yung, Kogalymavia’s deputy CEO. "Apparently, by that time it had suffered considerable damage that did not allow it to proceed with the flight."

The Ural Airlines air carrier has adjusted its flight routes to Sharm el-Sheikh, the company’s press service told TASS on Monday. "All flights are carried out in circumvention of the Sinai Peninsula in connection with the requirements of the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation," the company’s spokesman said.

A contract of Egypt Air on maintenance service of aircraft belonging to Russian airline company Kogalymavia, which lost its passenger jet in a fatal crash on Saturday in Egypt, expired three months ago, Egypt’s local daily Al-Masry Al-Youm reported on Monday citing an unnamed source in the Egyptian air company. According to the source in Egypt Air, the company operating at the Sharm el-Sheikh Airport, from where the ill-fated flight took off on Saturday morning, "had a contract for maintenance of the [Russian] company’s aircraft…, which expired three month ago.

Kolavia’s A321 plane crashed 100km from Arish in North Sinai. There were 224 tourists onboard, who return from Egypt to Saint Petersburg, among them 63 men, 138 women, and 17 children in age from two to seventeen. The charter plane was organized by Russian tour operator Brisco. Russian passenger plane was scheduled to arrive in St. Petersburg at 12:10pm Moscow time, according to the Pulkovo airport.

The Russian Foreign Ministry confirms the recommendation for Russians coming to Egypt as tourists, not to leave the resorts, especially because of the terrorist attack in Cairo on Thursday. "The Russian Foreign Ministry confirms the recommendation of Russians coming to Egypt as tourists do not leave the resort areas and avoid visiting areas where retained and increased terrorist danger of the crime," - said in a statement the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The tourists' flow from Russia to Egypt fell by 14%, which is less than the overall decline of the tourists' flow from Russia abroad, the Egyptian ambassador in Russia Mohammed El-Badri said to the journalists on Monday. "In 2014, Egypt was visited by 3.16 million Russians. Traditionally Russian tourists rank first in number in our country. It is no secret that the number of Russians traveling abroad dropped by a third. But the fall of Egypt's tourist flow from Russia decreased by only 14%. This reflects the confidence of Russian tourists to the Egyptian market," Mohammed El-Badri said.

Last year, Egypt welcomed 3.1 million visitors from Russia earning record-breaking $2.5 billion. According to the country's Minister for Tourism, Mr. Khaled Rami, the Russian market accounted for one third of the total tourist flow to Egypt. In the first quarter of this year, following weakening of the rouble, the flow of tourists from Russia went down by around 20%, estimate Egyptian travel trade experts. However they expect the demand to strengthen in the second quarter of 2015.

Revenues from tourism received by Egypt in February 2015, were $ 442 million, while the tourists start spending for the night in a hotel in an average for $ 2 less, reported on Monday by Daily News Egypt. According to the Ministry of Tourism of the country, Egypt's tourism revenues in February totaled $ 442 million. At the same time the average cost decreased to $ 78.3 per night, while in the last quarter of last year there were $ 80.1.

On March 14, 2015, Transaero air company gave detailed comment to TourDom concerning the situation on Egyptian destination. Last time travel agents noted that some of their clients started going to Egypt on their own by buying flight tickets from Transaero, which was never noted before. The air company stated that because of decrease of seats booked by tour operators, it had to increase the number of tickets sold through its own sales points.