Russian plane crash: Airlines to begin Sharm el-Sheikh repatriations to UK
UK airlines will start to repatriate Britons in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh on Friday, the UK government has said. Easyjet, Monarch and Thomson will run flights, with passengers subject to "special security measures".
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Thousands of Britons remain stranded in Egypt after the UK suspended all flights to and from the Red Sea resort. Passengers will only be allowed on board with hand baggage while hold luggage will be transported separately, a spokesman said.
Prime Minister David Cameron has said it is "more likely than not" that a terrorist bomb caused a Russian passenger jet to crash on Saturday, killing all 224 on board.
The spokesman said there was a cross-Whitehall meeting of senior officials to review the government's decision to ground flights after the crash. "Our utmost priority is to make sure we have all the right measures in place to ensure that British citizens can return safely to the UK," he said.
"The prime minister held talks on the situation with President Sisi earlier and, following further discussions with the airlines and the Egyptians we have agreed on a package of additional security measures that is being put in place rapidly."
Permitting passengers to carry hand baggage only and transporting hold luggage separately. The government said it was working with the airlines to ensure there are suitable arrangements in place to reunite passengers with their belongings as soon as possible.
Outbound flights from the UK to Sharm el Sheikh remain suspended and the Foreign Office continues to advise against all but essential travel by air to or from Sharm el Sheikh airport
British nationals in Sharm el Sheikh are encouraged to check with their airline or tour operator on their travel plans. Monarch says it will operate three "rescue flights" from Sharm el-Sheikh, to Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham. It will also operate two scheduled flights to Gatwick and Manchester
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EasyJet plans to operate five special flights, as well as two scheduled flights, and two delayed services from Wednesday. Thomson will also begin returning customers to the UK on Friday
British Airways has postponed one flight to, and one flight from, Sharm el-Sheikh until Friday. It says it is awaiting official announcements before announcing if they will fly.
Earlier Egypt's President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, told reporters that security at the airport was tightened 10 months ago at the UK's request. British experts had then assessed security at Egyptian airports and found the measures were "good enough", President Sisi added.
The leaders said the two countries were working together to get things back to normal as soon as possible.
ANALYSIS
British officials last year raised concerns with the Egyptian authorities about lax security at the airports in Sharm el-Sheikh and Cairo, BBC Newsnight has learned.
In particular, the UK was worried about security around baggage handling and access to restricted areas.
At a press conference with David Cameron in London today, Egypt's President Sisi confirmed a British security team travelled to Sharm el-Sheikh 10 months ago and decreed that the systems there were fine.
However, UK officials continued to have doubts and feared that in recent months the situation at the airport "had slipped back", Whitehall sources said.
The UK decided to stop British flights in and out of the resort after assessing several different strands of intelligence, including material from GCHQ. It left the prime minister "no choice" but to act immediately, sources said.
"This analysis was put together by British intelligence and we have now passed the findings to relevant partners," said one official. Mr Cameron also discussed "joint counter-terrorism" with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a telephone call on Thursday.
Mr Putin told the prime minister how important it was that assessments of the possible causes of the crash be based on information from the official investigation, a Kremlin spokesman said.
In other developments:
Russia says theories about a bomb were "speculation", while Egypt said there was "no evidence" yet to support them. Extra UK consular staff have been drafted in to Sharm el-Sheikh airport
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A small team of UK military personnel are in the resort to advise officials on logistics and security. Germany's Lufthansa Group said it was cancelling all flights to Sharm el-Sheikh, and the Belgian government advised its citizens not to travel to the region "while we wait for guarantees on the security of the airport".
Egyptian officials say the cockpit voice recorder of the Metrojet plane was badly damaged but flight data recorder information has been recovered. Meanwhile, British holidaymakers stranded in Egypt have spoken of confusion at Sharm el-Sheikh airport.
There are believed to be about 20,000 Britons in the popular resort area.