CAIRO: The Swiss company, Edelweiss Air, will start offering trips to Sharm El-Sheikh again after a hiatus of four years.
The company is scheduled to operate one flight a week after stopping its operations to Sharm El-Sheikh in 2016.
The Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation said that the plane was welcomed with spraying water and its passengers were welcomed with flowers.
“The public relations team has provided all the necessary facilities and expedited arrival procedures, and the application of precautionary measures and social distancing, in order to preserve the safety of travelers and workers,” the ministry said in a statement.
Recently Egypt welcomed about 250,000 tourists from 15 countries according to Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled Al-Anani. He stressed that no coronavirus cases were discovered in any tourist who visited Egypt recently.
He added that all international reports confirm the transparency of the precautionary measures followed by Egypt.
Al-Anani praised the commitment of Egyptian tourist establishments to precautionary and preventive measures in accordance with international standards.
He emphasized that the priority for the Egyptian government is to preserve employment, Egypt’s tourism position and existing investments in this sector.
He pointed to the importance of continuing cooperation between the government and the private sector to set promotional policies and tourism plans, which would restore the tourism movement from different markets.
Last Wednesday, the Egyptian Cabinet agreed to continue the exemption from paying visa fees for tourists visiting the governorates of South Sinai, the Red Sea, Luxor and Aswan until April 30, 2021. This is to encourage tourists to visit Egypt in light of the global crisis, and to reduce accommodation and ground services fees.
There is currently a 20 percent decrease on ground services and a 50 percent decrease on accommodation fees at airports in the governorates of South Sinai, the Red Sea, Luxor and Aswan until April 30, 2021.