20th July, 2019
British Airways suddenly cancelled all flights to Cairo today amid security concerns.
Passengers ready to board a flight from London Heathrow to the Egyptian capital today were turned away after the flight was cancelled.
They were then told there would be no alternative flights for a week, after the airline suspended the journeys as a ‘precaution’.
However, the airline did not specify what the security issue was but said it needed more time to ‘assess’ the situation, metro.co.uk reported.
A Cairo Airport spokesperson told the BBC that the airport hadn’t yet been informed by British Airways of any changes.
The flight cancellation comes after the UK Foreign Office updated its advice for Brits travelling to Egypt on Friday, stating there is a ‘heightened risk of terrorism against aviation’.
The advice states: ‘Terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Egypt. ‘Although most attacks occur in North Sinai, there is a risk of terrorist attacks across the country.’
‘Additional security measures are in place for flights departing from Egypt to the UK,’ the warning added.
A BA spokesman said: ‘We constantly review our security arrangements at all our airports around the world, and have suspended flights to Cairo for seven days as a precaution to allow for further assessment.
‘The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our priority, and we would never operate an aircraft unless it was safe to do so.’
*Reported by metro.co.uk