The timing of the resumption of air traffic between the Russian Federation and Egypt, interrupted two and a half years ago, has again shifted. Despite the fact that at the end of 2017, the heads of state agreed to open flights between Moscow and Cairo in February, the new start date for flights is now April. The Egyptian national air carrier EgyptAir has still not received permission from the Federal Air Transport Agency to fly to Moscow. Kommersant's sources cite one of the reasons for the delays as the desire to ensure maximum security during the FIFA World Cup.

The resumption of air traffic between Moscow and Cairo, tentatively scheduled for the end of February, is postponed until at least April, the Egyptian newspaper Al-Iqtisadi reported, citing sources in the Egyptian Ministry of Aviation. According to the publication, “intensive consultations and preparations for the resumption of flights” are currently ongoing. A source at Cairo airport confirmed to RIA Novosti that no flights between Moscow and Cairo are planned for February 20. Also, there is no sale or booking of air tickets for direct flights to Moscow yet.

According to a diplomatic source in Egypt, the Egyptian Foreign Minister spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as part of a recent security conference in Munich. The heads of departments also discussed the “tourism dossier”. But so far “the minister has not specifically instructed his assistants to go to Moscow to find out the reasons for postponing the resumption of air traffic,” the agency’s source noted.

The CEO of Egypt's national carrier EgyptAir, Safuat Muslim, said that the company plans to open flights from Cairo to Moscow in April.

He added that the airline has already received slots at Domodedovo, “but this doesn’t mean anything yet,” since Rosaviation has not yet approved the submitted application. “Therefore, talking about the exact timing of the start of flights is not only premature, but also pointless: it could be April, or the end of March, when carriers switch to the summer schedule, or even May,” the general director noted, adding that everything is being decided in a working order. According to him, the companies have agreed on counters and exits at air terminals, and all procedures for the normal functioning of the company's representative offices have been completed in Cairo and Moscow. Under the terms of the resumption of flights, Russian security officers will still be present at Cairo airport.

Bilateral air traffic between the Russian Federation and Egypt was interrupted in November 2015 after the crash of the Kogalymavia A321 aircraft over the Sinai Peninsula (the cause was later called a terrorist attack: a bomb was brought on board the plane), which was flying from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. Let us remind you that 224 people became victims of the plane crash over Sinai. To resume flights, Moscow demanded that security at Egyptian airports be strengthened and that Russian specialists be involved in control procedures. Since then, experts from the Russian Federation have regularly carried out checks at Egyptian airports, but no decision has been made to resume flights.

In mid-December last year, as part of Vladimir Putin’s visit to Cairo, the Russian side agreed to resume direct flights between the Russian Federation and Egypt. According to the cautious forecast of the Ministry of Transport, if the intergovernmental protocol is signed, flights may begin in February. The Ministry of Transport insists that all political decisions on the resumption of flights between Moscow and Cairo have been made, and technical issues have been resolved. The press service of the ministry reported this, calling on all parties to speed up the resumption of air traffic.

Kommersant’s sources in the industry believe that the delays may be due to “the desire of the Russian authorities to ensure maximum security during the FIFA World Cup.”

Elizaveta Kuznetsova

23624

Egypt was discovered. What's next?

What will be the consequences of Vladimir Putin’s statement for the travel services market?

The Russians were once again encouraged about the possible resumption of air travel to Egypt. December 11, President of Russia Vladimir Putin stated: the Egyptian side has done a lot of work to improve security at airports, and “in general, we are ready” for the opening of direct flights between Moscow and Cairo. Chapter Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation Maxim Sokolov said that a corresponding decree could be signed in the coming days and gave a guideline - regular flights to Cairo may resume in February 2018. And where Cairo is, there are Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh - in any case, representatives of the tourism business see exactly this scenario.

But how will the opening of Egypt actually affect the market?

Purely symbolically

The launch of flights from Moscow to Cairo will be a symbolic event for the tourism industry - as the first step towards a cherished goal. But nothing more. Because this item is not of great practical interest in terms of organizing tourist transportation. The distance from the Egyptian capital to the resort areas is about 500 km; bus transfers of such a length would be too expensive, extremely tiring and even questionable in terms of safety. It is much easier and cheaper for Russians to fly to the beaches of Egypt through Minsk, Istanbul or other roundabout routes. As you know, many people are now doing just that.

It will be another matter if regular flights are allowed to all airports in Egypt. This will have significant consequences for the tourism business. Namely: tour operators whose transportation partners have appointments on regular flights to Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh will get a competitive head start. This is the list given by experts close to Rosaviatsia.

Rossiya Airlines: destinations to Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh from Moscow and St. Petersburg.

"Icarus": Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh from Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Khabarovsk.

Saratov Airlines: Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh from Saratov.

"Ural Airlines": Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh from St. Petersburg.

"Yamal": Moscow – Hurghada.

It is clear that Rossiya flights will be loaded, Ikar is affiliated with. The other three airlines do not have exclusive relationships with any of the tour operators. Therefore, theoretically everyone will be allowed to transport them if necessary.

Plus, if regular flights to resort airports are allowed, tour operators will certainly try to enlist support EgyptAir, which must have the appropriate permissions from the Egyptian side. In a word, activity in the direction will resume.

When charters are finally allowed, the pent-up demand for Egypt will manifest itself in full and some other tourism destinations will not receive enough tourists from Russia.

Where are the clients missing?

A “natural decline” in client flows is possible, for example, in Turkey, experts say. Because summer Egypt has always been cheaper, and in the first season after the ban is lifted, local hoteliers will certainly offer unprecedentedly low prices.

There may be a decrease in tourist flows from Russia and in many other directions, which, in the absence of Egypt, were taken on by large tour operators in order to ensure the loading of their transport capacities and maintain sales volumes. This applies to both exotic and European resorts. “Biblio-Globus” and “Pegasus Touristik” will probably adjust their plans in favor of Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh. It is possible that the range of charter destinations will become scarce in this regard. The cuts may affect the diversity of programs in Bulgaria, Greece, and Cyprus. For the same reason, optimization is quite likely on some long-haul destinations - for example, in the Dominican Republic, which ANEX Tour, in the absence of access to Egypt, began to promote in a year-round format.

What about Russian resorts? Observers believe they are not in danger of a significant outflow of clientele. Of the heavyweight tour operators, Biblio-Globus is truly active there, and it is unlikely to deprive Russia of transportation in favor of Egypt, since it has already done a lot of work to introduce a package holiday format in Sochi. Moreover, there are currently no prerequisites for a natural decline in demand in the field of domestic tourism. Those who were forced to travel to the Black Sea, for lack of anything cheaper, already migrated to Turkey in the summer of 2017. What remains are mostly staunch supporters of Russian resorts, who by definition are not interested in Africa - regardless of the price.

These are the general forecasts of experts regarding market disruptions if Egypt is actually opened. It remains to be added that, in general, this will have a beneficial effect on the economy of large outgoing tour operators: they will be able to ensure fairly stable loading of their aircraft fleets year-round. Because in the absence of Egypt, everyone has the same thing - in the summer there is a shortage of planes, in the winter there is nowhere to put them. And under such conditions, expanding aircraft fleets is difficult.

So, we are waiting to see how events will develop on the “mothballed” market. Skeptics, by the way, remind you that official permission for flights from Russia to Egypt has not yet been received, therefore there is no formal basis for building specific business plans.

On February 1, a new project from the Dream Aero company began its work at the Afimall City shopping and entertainment center - a flight simulator of the famous Boeing-737NG airliner.
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The flight simulator is built on the basis of a flight simulator, similar to those used to train professional civil aviation pilots. The purpose of such simulators is to accurately reproduce all aircraft control functions and real flight situations.

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The flight simulator is installed on a dynamic platform. Thanks to it, the flight dynamics are reproduced in every detail. When accelerating and taking off, you can feel the unevenness of the concrete runway, lift-off and climb.

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During the flight, the platform accurately processes the consequences of the actions performed and flight conditions (rolls, turbulence, etc.). Mobility is ensured by a powerful hydraulic system controlled by a computer. Thanks to the mobility of the cockpit, visualization and voice-over systems, a complete feeling of a real flight on a Boeing 737 is created.

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Visitors, finding themselves in an exact replica of the cockpit of a Boeing 737NG aircraft, surrounded by instruments and controls that are completely identical to the real ones, have the opportunity to take the pilot’s seat and feel like the commander of a large passenger airliner.

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All instruments display data corresponding to the flight mode and your actions.
Taking off, flying and landing on a flight simulator together with Dream Aero instructors is within the capabilities of anyone. Simulation of flights in difficult weather conditions or simulation of non-standard situations is possible for our trained guests.

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Tyoma broadcast live, who watched?

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Flight visualization on all routes fully corresponds to the real situation, specific terrain and flight mode. Computer memory contains real diagrams of a huge number of airports, their runways and local features. You can choose your own take-off and landing airport. For example, take off at Sheremetyevo, Charles de Gaulle or Heathrow airports, and land on the strip of Male Airport in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

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Also, flight simulators can be used not only for active family recreation or organizing corporate events.
With their help, you can effectively combat such a fairly common phenomenon as Aerophobia. Flight simulators of this kind allow more and more people to enjoy not only virtual flights, but also real ones.

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In the near future, Dream Aero plans to open several more flight simulators both in Russia and abroad, in particular, a new flight simulator in the capital of the UAE, Abu Dhabi, will very soon begin to receive visitors.

They started talking again after the meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, which took place on December 11, 2017. Putin said that Russia is generally ready to open direct flights with Egypt.

When will direct flights to Egypt open?

Air traffic between Russia and Egypt should open by the beginning of February 2018, but this is not yet certain. According to a statement by Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov, the forecast for the opening of flights in Egypt can be called “cautious.”

Direct flights to Cairo

So far there is talk about the start of regular flights from Moscow to Cairo with only one airline. There is no information about the opening of charter flights. The national air carriers of both countries will be the first to open flights: from Russia, flights will be carried out by the airline "", and from Egypt, EgyptAir will fly.

The resumption of direct flights to Cairo is the first step towards the resumption of other flights, including charter flights. But so far there is no talk of opening flights to the popular resorts of Egypt - Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh.

Update: The agreement has been signed, flights will open

On December 15, 2017, Russia and Egypt signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of flight safety. As part of the agreement, the countries open direct flights between Moscow and Cairo. The launch of flights to the popular resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada will be discussed separately.

Connecting flights to Egypt

Despite the ban on flights from Russia to Egypt, independent tourists continue to fly to the popular Egyptian resorts of Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh. Flights from Moscow, Samara and other Russian cities with a transfer in Istanbul are operated by Turkish airlines and.

Hurghada

For the Moscow - Hurghada direction, the cheapest tickets can be found with the airline. Round-trip air tickets with a transfer in Istanbul for January 2018 with 20 kg baggage and 8 kg hand luggage cost from 15,740 rubles.

Sharm el-Sheikh

Air tickets for flights Moscow - Sharm el-Sheikh for January 2018 cost the same as to Hurghada from 15,740 rubles to

It can be expected no earlier than April – this forecast was announced on Tuesday by the Egyptian media. The Egyptian Ministry of Aviation is indicated as the source of information. At the moment, air travel between the capitals of Russia and Egypt is going through a long stage of coordination and preparation for the restoration of flights, and although they have been officially allowed since February, and their opening was expected from 20.02, neither Aeroflot nor Aeroflot are carrying out actual sales of air tickets. However, it should be noted that this did not come as a surprise to the tourism market; in general, real restoration of Egypt is expected here even later - when direct flights to and are allowed, and this is clearly not earlier than the end of the summer season.

At the same time, the Al-Iqtisadi publication claims that it plans to deal with the restoration of transportation in Egypt at the highest level. In particular, according to his statement, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry instructed one of his assistants, who is flying to Moscow, to find out the true reasons for the suspension of the restoration of air traffic. However, according to Russian data from European diplomatic sources, the heads of the Egyptian and Russian Foreign Ministries recently held negotiations, as part of a meeting at a security conference in Munich, including on the issues of restoring tourism. And no “special” visits were needed.

Let us remind you that the decree on the restoration of air traffic with Egypt. At the same time, in the second paragraph of the decree regarding restrictions on the sale of tours, the edited version reads the following: “Refrain from selling to citizens a tourism product that involves air transportation (including commercial) of citizens from the territory of the Russian Federation to the territory of the Arab Republic of Egypt, with the exception of . Cairo".

In fact, a new version of the decree on “closing Egypt” was signed, that is, in the decree of November 8, 2015 No. 553 “On certain measures to ensure the national security of the Russian Federation and the protection of citizens of the Russian Federation from criminal and other illegal actions,” the ban on transportation remained “for with the exception of regular air transportation to Cairo." And already on January 10, flights from Moscow to Cairo appeared on the online boards of Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo airports. The start of flights was announced on February 1, and then on February 20, but none of them actually took place yet.

Tour operators, in turn, were ready to launch programs from Cairo - for example, the TezTour company planned to offer combined programs, including an excursion part of Cairo or Alexandria, as well as a vacation in. As PR director Larisa Akhanova told the correspondent of the TURPROM information group, they were talking about city breaks in Cairo or Alexandria, which is located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, in combination with a beach holiday at the Red Sea resorts. “For those who will use the services of regular flights to Cairo, such tours will look like one or two nights in the capital of Egypt with a visit, which include, including the very first, after which the tourist can go on the Red Sea bus,” explained Larisa Akhanova .

However, despite all the preparedness of the tourism market, forecasts for Egypt were rather pessimistic. As experts noted, despite the fact that everything speaks about the imminent launch of the first flights to Cairo, no one has yet announced the exact dates, which means it can be assumed that there are still unresolved issues between Russia and Egypt. “At the moment, everything in Egypt is ready to welcome Russian tourists, but everything depends on the flight - tickets for Moscow-Cairo flights are still not on sale. That is, in order to talk about something specific, you need to wait for information about what date flights in the direction will begin. I can assume that there is something else that we don’t know about, since the Egyptian side itself was very interested in launching flights as quickly as possible,” emphasizes the head of the host company “” in Egypt.

At the same time, according to the expert, now everyone is only waiting for charters. “But according to data that I also receive from open sources, negotiations on this issue will take place only in April. Our Egyptian partners say that this is Russia's demand. Therefore, I don’t think that we can count on a full opening even in the summer. Most likely, this will happen only by the next winter season. But this is only an assumption,” concluded Mr. Zalivin.

Let us add that any travel agency can place a weather widget in the form of a beautiful interactive map on its website for free, thereby seriously improving the perception of its Internet resource by potential tourists. So, if you have a section on your website dedicated to Egypt, then insert the following widgets there:

1. Egypt - top attractions throughout the country -
2. Egypt – top attractions Cairo -