Russia to prepare report on security at Egyptian airport - deputy transport minister

MOSCOW, January 25. /TASS/. Russian specialists will prepare a report within a week on security at Egyptian airports after their visit to Egypt, Deputy Transport Minister Valery Okulov said on Monday. ‘So far, only a group, which we sent to Cairo, has returned. They are now preparing a report. I believe they will prepare it within a week," he said. "The results of this report that will be submitted will make understandable the volume and the scope of those additional measures, which have to be taken, if necessary," Okulov said. However, a draft memorandum on the participation of Russian specialists in checks at Egyptian airports "has not yet been approved," the deputy transport minister said. As was reported in December 2015, the Russian aviation authorities have prepared the relevant document. "A memorandum is a document, which will help legitimize the participation of Russian specialists as controlling representatives relative to the procedures of aviation security that are under way at Egyptian airports," Okulov said. The expediency of improving security measures at Egyptian airports emerged after Russian airliner A321 crashed over the Sinai Peninsula on October 31, 2015. The bomb that went off aboard the airliner killed 224 people. Russia’s Federal Security Service Chief Alexander Bortnikov reported to President Vladimir Putin in mid-November that a terror act had been the cause of the airliner’s crash. The bomb had the power of up to 1 kg in TNT equivalent. After the terror act, Moscow suspended air communication with Egypt. The same measures were taken with regard to Egypt’s national airline Egypt Air. The Russian side said a term of about three months was required to check the security system at Egyptian airports. Read more