Hurghada: AlMasria Airlines has reduced its flight program from Russia to the resorts of Egypt

AlMasria Universal Airlines, an Egyptian airline, is reducing its flight program from Russia to the resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada and back by almost a third from May 20, a source at the airline told Izvestia. The fact of the revision of the program was confirmed by the Federal Air Transport Agency and a source in the Ministry of Transport. The reason is the carrier's shortage of aircraft due to secondary sanctions and flight delays due to flight safety threats. Izvestia figured out how this would change the situation for tourists traveling to Egypt.

What are the reasons for the reduction of flights from Russia to Egypt

The Egyptian AlMasria Universal Airlines has warned the Russian aviation authorities about difficulties with work on international routes. There are systematic flight delays, which is why the flight program had to be reviewed before the start of the tourist season for three domestic tour operators: Coral Travel, Fun & Sun and Anex Tour, a source at the airline told Izvestia.

— 50% of flights have been reduced for Anex Tour. The airline will fly to Sharm el-Sheikh only five times a week. For Fun & Sun, the reduction in aircraft departures was 37%. AlMasria Universal Airlines can operate only seven weekly flights to Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh. For Coral Travel, the Egyptian airline plans to reduce flights by 21% (20 flights to Sharm el-Sheikh and 10 to Hurghada), he said.

In total, the cuts will amount to 27%, he added.

According to Izvestia's interlocutor, the cancelled flights will be redistributed by tour operators between Russian and foreign carriers. The domestic airlines Azur, Ural Airlines and Red Wings, as well as the Egyptian ones — Egypt Air, Air Cairo, Red Sea Airlines - should take over the load. Moreover, the schedule will change starting from May 20, the carrier claims.

— Rosaviation has agreed with AlMasria Airlines to reduce the flight program to Russia. Now the airline is implementing it," said Izvestia's source in the Ministry of Transport.

There are no plans to completely close the airline's admissions, as passengers may suffer because of this - tickets have already been sold out until mid—summer and it is not possible to transfer people to other flights, he noted.

Resort nights: Russians are buying up long weekend tours in June

They have already booked 70% more flights than a year earlier.

A source at AlMasria Airlines told Izvestia that to ensure its obligations to Russian passengers and reduce the likelihood of delays in other flights, the airline will allocate two reserve aircraft in Sharm el-Sheikh. These are the Airbus A320 with a capacity of 180 seats and the Boeing 737-400 with 168 seats. AlMasria Universal has also signed an agreement with Red Sea and Southwind to provide backup aircraft in emergency cases to prevent flight disruptions, he added.

The source at the Egyptian carrier calls the unfriendly actions on the part of the EU the reason for the timetable revision. According to him, the ability to purchase aircraft is seriously limited due to sanctions, as leasing companies have rejected the airline's requests to provide unattended rental services. Therefore, a significant part of the financial resources in the amount of about $ 100 million went to purchase four aircraft for operation in the Russian market: two Airbus A321 and two Airbus A330 aircraft, with one airliner previously owned by Italian Alitalia, the source added.

— After transferring one of the payments, the money was withheld in the escrow account due to the fact that the Egyptian airline was accused of working with the Russian Federation. Therefore, only two aircraft entered service, and even then with a delay of more than 65 days," he said.

In addition to financial reasons, the Egyptian carrier notes customs regulations combined with strict security measures in the Russian Federation. Thus, the use of one-time permits to use the air zones of Russian airports sometimes led to delays in the departure of flights from Egypt for at least eight hours, said a source at the airline.

Also, a significant part of the delays occurred due to flight safety threats related to drones and weather conditions. There are also problems with the purchase of spare parts, including engines, due to sanctions against the Russian Federation. An additional problem was the storage of spare parts at Russian airports, said an interlocutor at AlMasria Universal Airlines.

The press service of the Federal Air Transport Agency told Izvestia that, taking into account periodic disruptions in the schedule, the Egyptian carrier decided to reduce the number of its flights to / from Russia in coordination with tour operators.

— The situation is under the control of our department's specialists. At the same time, the agency did not limit the work of AlMasria Universal Airlines, they noted.

Izvestia sent inquiries to airlines and tour operators. The Russian Union of Travel Industry (PCT) declined to comment.

How do secondary sanctions work?

"Secondary sanctions are indeed imposed on airlines of foreign countries, but air carriers from three dozen countries fly to the Russian Federation, and they have long adapted," the editor—in—chief of the portal told Izvestia. Avia.ru aviation expert Roman Gusarov. — It is possible that in this case the reference to restrictive measures in reducing the number of flights is an excuse.

It is possible that Egyptian airlines simply have difficulties with their business model. Perhaps they simply resell flights to more profitable routes and limit them to less profitable ones, the expert noted.

— Sanctions against foreign carriers for working with Russia do not always work the same way. Sometimes they are used selectively and without evidence, on the simple suspicion of ties with the Russian Federation," Andrey Patrakov, founder of the RunAvia flight safety service, told Izvestia.

Large countries, such as China, have a successful experience of trade wars and resist pressure, while weak ones do not always succeed. Russian tourist traffic is important for Egypt, which is why unfriendly countries are trying to limit it, the expert concluded.