Egyptian authorities are awaiting the arrival of a delegation of Russian experts to inspect Cairo International Airport on January 18-20, the Al-Wafd newspaper said on Monday citing the airport representatives.
“Russian experts are expected to conduct the final inspection of the airport and fix the timeline for resuming the air service between the two countries on January 18-20,” a Cairo airport representatives stated.
According to the newspaper, at the moment, personnel biometric access systems, purchased in Germany, which will be used for scanning fingerprints and retina, are being installed at the airport. Mohamed Saeed Mahrous, chairperson of the Egyptian Holding Company for Airports and Air Navigation, said that the new system would be put into operation in Cairo airport’s Terminal 2 on January 12. He also noted that biometric equipment had already been installed at Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh airports.
In late December, Russian aviation safety experts conducted another inspection of Cairo International Airport, particularly Terminal 2, which had been opened this past autumn after being refurbished. The experts inspected special equipment and reviewed security measures. Terminal 2 is planned to serve Russian citizens once flights, suspended after Russia’s passenger plane’s crash over Sinai in October 2015, have been resumed.
Russia’s Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov said earlier that air service was most likely to be resumed in January 2017. The final decision will be taken by Russia’s authorities after reviewing the experts’ conclusions.