Russia hands to Egypt draft memorandum on participation of Russian specialists in airport inspections

MOSCOW, December 30. /TASS/. Russia has handed to Egypt the draft memorandum that envisages Russian specialists’ participation in inspection at Egyptian airports, Deputy Transport Minister Valery Okulov told journalists on Wednesday. Representatives of Russian aviation authorities held a meeting with their Egyptian colleagues on December 23 and sent them results of inspections at Egyptian airports. "(They) prepared a draft memorandum. The memorandum is the document that will allow legitimize the participation of Russian specialists as monitoring representatives in procedures of aviation security performed at Egyptian airports," Okulov said. The next meeting between Russian and Egyptian specialists will take place in January after New Year holidays when Egypt prepares its recommendations, he added. Talking about the possible resumption of air travel to Egypt, the deputy transport minister said: "It is hard to name any concrete dates. The main thing is that we outlined our further actions." The issue of strengthening security measures at Egyptian airports emerged after a Russian passenger jet crashed over Egypt’s northern Sinai on 31 October 2015. Russia suspended air service with Egypt after the air crash. The A321 passenger jet of Russia’s Kogalymavia air carrier (flight 9268) bound to St. Petersburg crashed on October 31 some 30 minutes after the takeoff from Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh. It fell down 100 kilometers south of the administrative center of North Sinai Governorate, the city of Al-Arish. The plane was carrying 217 passengers and seven crew members. There were four Ukrainian and one Belarusian nationals among the passengers. None survived. In mid-November, it was announced that the crash had been caused by an act of terror committed by means of a home-made explosive devise with a yield of up to one kilogram of TNT. Read more