LONDON: When Metrojet Flight 9268 crashed over Northern Sinai on Oct. 31, 2015, the Egyptian tourism industry collapsed. The suspected bomb effectively ended the Russian Red Sea holiday trade overnight and winter sun-seekers from elsewhere also stayed away.
Three years on, the country is looking forward to a busy winter season — even after a storm of negative publicity surrounding the deaths of British tourists John and Susan Cooper, supposedly from E. coli poisoning, while on holiday in Hurghada.
Room rates are on the rise, bookings are up and tourists are spending more in an industry that is an important foreign exchange earner for the government.
The Ministry of Tourism reported a 77 percent increase in income and 41 percent increase in hotel occupancy in the first quarter of 2018.
Tourism industry analysts STR also reported a healthy rise in room occupancy rates this year, beginning in January with 58.1 percent of hotel rooms filled compared to 47.1 percent in January 2017 — an increase of 23.3 percent, the highest for the year so far.
Occupancy has gradually grown through 2018. In the Red Sea resorts, occupancy in 2017 was languishing at between 30.8 percent in January to 44.2 percent in August. This year there was 45.5 percent occupancy in January, rising steadily to 56.2 percent in August.
“Since the end of 2017, tourism has improved significantly,” said Alaa Atwan, owner of Travel Solution travel agency based in Cairo. “Tourism trips to Luxor and Aswan have recovered greatly and boat owners have started getting their boats ready — something we haven’t seen in years.”
However he said that the recovery in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt’s most popular destination, was less noticeable — even if STR data for the resort tells a more optimistic story. That shows a steady rise in hotel occupancy throughout the year, peaking at just over 50 percent this August, compared to only 41 percent last year.
The deadly bombing attacks on the Coptic churches in Alexandria and Tanta in the spring of 2017 also dealt a hammer blow to an industry that is vital to the Egyptian economy and was still suffering repercussions from the violence of the Arab Spring uprisings six years earlier.
The luxury hotels that line the banks of the Nile in Cairo echoed with emptiness and tour guides were forced to look for other jobs. The pyramids of Giza were eerily deserted, prompting concern from UNESCO, the UN’s cultural watchdog.
Sustainable tourism coordinator Peter DeBrine said, “We look at tourism as a way to support conservation, so if tourism drops, then that could have a negative impact on the conservation of the sites. If they don’t have the resources to protect the site, that’s a huge concern.”
According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the number of tourists visiting Egypt more than halved in six years, plunging from 14.7 million pre-uprising in 2010 to 5.4 million in 2016.
The government took steps to improve security, particularly in the Sinai region, but not even the discovery of a new pyramid or celebrity visits by footballer Lionel Messi and film star Will Smith could deliver a much-needed boost to tourist numbers.
More than 2.5 million of those visitors came from Russia but flights were suspended in 2015 after a suspected bombing of a charter flight taking Russian tourists home from Sharm El-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. The flights resumed in April this year, following President Vladimir Putin’s official visit to Egypt.
But while the return of the Russians as well as holidaymakers from other countries has undoubtedly helped the industry to recover, the saviors of Egyptian tourism have proved to be Egyptians themselves.
In Sharm El-Sheikh, “domestic tourism is good,” said Alaa Atwan.
In Dahab, Khaled Yousry, CEO of Club Red Dahab hotel and diving center, said affordable hotel prices were luring young Egyptians to the Red Sea resort, a magnet for water sports enthusiasts. A double room can be had for as little as 500 Egyptian pounds, or $23 per person.
“Some 95 percent of business here is from Egyptians, and most prefer the north coast at this time of year anyway,” he said.
Hurghada hotel employee Mahmoud El Sayed said despite the lack of great numbers of Russians and the deaths of the Coopers, business was the best it has been for years in the resort, which is especially popular with divers.
“But this does not mean that it has reached 100 percent of the level it was at before 2011, or even 80 percent,” he added.
Three years after Flight 9268, Egypt’s tourism is bouncing back
Three years after Flight 9268, Egypt’s tourism is bouncing back
Over 3k flights cancelled across the Middle East after attack on Iran by the US, Israel
RIYADH: US and Israeli strikes on Iran led to widespread airspace shutdowns in the Middle East, canceling and rerouting thousands of flights and paralyzing key international travel corridors.
Flight cancellations affected seven airports across the Middle East, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE, Doha in Qatar, and Manama in Bahrain.
Emirates Airlines said in a statement: “Due to multiple regional airspace closures, Emirates has temporarily suspended all operations to and from Dubai, up until 1500 hrs UAE time on Monday, 2 March.”
A flydubai spokesperson said the situation is evolving, and the airline is closely monitoring developments while coordinating with authorities to adjust its flight schedule.
“Our teams are working diligently to implement comprehensive welfare for all affected customers. The safety of our passengers and crew remains our highest priority,” the spokesperson said.
He added: “We are currently experiencing a high volume of calls and appreciate our customers’ patience while our teams work to assist everyone as quickly as possible.”
Qatar Airways announced that the airport will remain closed until at least the morning of March 2.
“Qatar Airways flights to, and from, Doha have been temporarily suspended due to the closure of Qatari airspace,” the airline said.
It added: “Qatar Airways will resume operations once the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority announces the safe reopening of Qatari airspace.”
Saudia also said in an official statement that it had canceled a number of flights due to developments in the region and the closure of airspace.
The organization said the decision was taken in line with aviation safety and security standards, noting that its Emergency Coordination Center is closely monitoring developments with relevant authorities.
Saudia urged passengers to verify the status of their flights before heading to the airport and said guests would be notified of updates through the contact details associated with their bookings.
The carrier added that further information would be announced in a subsequent statement if available.
Air Arabia also said its flights were experiencing cancellations, delays, or rerouting as a result of the evolving situation and airspace closures.
Airlines cited airspace closures and safety concerns as the main reasons for flight disruptions, urging passengers to check official channels for updates as the situation develops.
Israeli airspace also remained closed on March 1st. Israeli airline El Al said it was preparing a recovery effort to bring home Israelis stranded abroad once the airspace reopened.
Travelers were either stranded or diverted to other airports on Feb. 28 after Israel, Qatar, Syria, and Iran as well as Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain, closed their airspace.
After the UAE announced a temporary partial airspace closure, FlightRadar24 recorded no flights over the country.
The closures affected key hub airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha. Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Etihad, airlines that operate from these hubs, normally handle around 90,000 passengers daily, with even more traveling to other Middle Eastern destinations, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Airports hit by attacks
Two airports in the UAE reported incidents as the government there condemned what it called a “blatant attack involving Iranian ballistic missiles” on Feb.28.
Dubai International Airport, the UAE’s largest and one of the world’s busiest, reported four injuries, while Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport said a drone attack killed one person and injured seven others. Strikes were also reported at Kuwait International Airport.
Though Iran did not publicly claim responsibility, the scope of retaliatory strikes that Gulf nations attributed to Iran extended beyond the US bases that it previously said it would target.
Flight delays, cancellations are likely to continue
“For travelers, there’s no way to sugarcoat this,” said Henry Harteveldt, an airline industry analyst and president of Atmosphere Research Group.
“You should prepare for delays or cancellations for the next few days as these attacks evolve and hopefully end,” he added.
To avoid conflict zones, airlines are rerouting Middle East flights over Saudi Arabia, adding hours and fuel costs, which could push ticket prices higher if the tensions persist.
The extra flights will strain air traffic controllers in the Kingdom, who may need to slow traffic for safety. Meanwhile, countries that closed their airspace will lose out on overflight fees from passing airlines.
Mike McCormick, former head of air traffic control at the FAA and now a professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said some countries may reopen parts of their airspace in the coming days once US and Israeli officials provide airlines with details on military flight zones and Iran’s missile capabilities.
“Those countries then will be able to go through and say, ok, we can reopen this portion of our space but we’ll keep this portion of our airspace closed,” McCormick said.
“So, I think what we’ll see in the next 24 to 36 hours is how the use of airspace evolves as the kinetic activity gets more well-defined and as the capability of Iran to actually shoot missiles and create additional risk is diminished due to the attacks,” he added.
But it is unclear how long the disruption to flight operations could last. For comparison, the Israeli and US attack on Iran in June 2025 lasted 12 days.
