As Gorin told an interview with Radio Sputnik, the decision of the Egyptian authorities to abolish the compulsory PCR test for vaccinated Russians will not play a decisive role, since another limiting factor remains on these trips.
Earlier it became known that vaccinated Russians upon arrival in Egypt will have to show at the airport instead of a PCR test, only a certificate of vaccination with a QR code. But the main obstacle to travel has not yet been removed.
“The demand is huge, but it is not the formalities associated with PCR testing and filling out electronic questionnaires that restrain it, but the lack of direct charter and regular flights to Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh”, - says Dmitry Gorin.
According to him, there have been no such flights for five and a half years. They stopped after the terrorist attack aboard flight A 321 "Kogalymavia" on October 31, 2015. The plane crash killed 224 people flying from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg.
In 2018, after the strengthening of security measures at the Cairo airport, flights from Russia to this city resumed. However, charters still do not fly. And all tourists travel through Cairo. But the journey from the capital to the resorts takes about 6-9 hours, which not everyone likes. Instead of 3 million Russian tourists who annually vacationed in Egypt, only 150 thousand fly to this country.
In April of this year, the presidents of the Russian Federation and Egypt agreed to restore flights between the Russian cities and resorts of Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh.
It was planned to resume both charter and regular flights after the May holidays. About dnako still direct flights have not resumed.
Tour operators believe that as soon as flights appear, demand will recover and reach past levels.