CAIRO: Russian and Egyptian authorities have decided to increase the number of weekly tourist flights from Russia to the beach resorts of Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada.

“We in Egypt warmly welcome the return of Russian tourists to Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh,” said Ihab Nasr, Egypt’s ambassador to Russia.

“This is very important for residents and entrepreneurs, for the movement of trade between the two countries, and for everyone,” he added.

“We are preparing for the next phase, which starts from Aug. 27, when there will be 30 flights from Moscow to Sharm El-Sheikh, and 30 flights to Hurghada, at the rate of 60 flights per week,” the envoy said.

Nasr said that the resumption of regular flights would boost relations between Cairo and Moscow, and was important for the economies of the two countries “because tourism creates new job opportunities.”

Russia had earlier announced the resumption of flights to Egypt’s tourist destinations, starting from Aug. 9 — five flights per week for each route — after a six-year hiatus.

Direct flights between Egypt and Russia were halted in the fall of 2015 following a Daesh terrorist attack that downed a Russian passenger plane that was taking off from Sharm, killing all its passengers and crew.

Air traffic between Russia and Cairo Airport resumed in 2018, but the decision to stop charter flights from Russia to the Egyptian tourist resorts remained in force until the completion of a set of security requirements requested by Moscow.

Before the jet’s crash in Sinai, Egypt used to receive millions of Russian tourists annually. According to press reports, in 2015, Egypt received about 2.3 million tourists from Russia.