Egypt’s airport receives first British tourist flight after red list publication

By Nneka Nwogwugwu

Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport received its first flight from London after Egypt was removed from the UK’s travel “red list.”

Nabil Al-Mallah, the airport’s director, and Dr. Islam Nabil, director of the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Board in Sharm El-Sheikh, received the passengers with flowers, flyers, and promotional films by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

Tourism and Antiquities Minister Dr. Khaled El-Anany met with British Ambassador to Egypt Gareth Bayley in Cairo a fortnight ago to discuss enhancing bilateral cooperation, especially with regard to increasing the number of tourists from the UK.

Bayley tweeted: “We were looking forward to welcoming many British travelers to Egypt in light of the recent decision to remove Egypt from the Red List, but … we are also pleased to inform our Egyptian friends that Britain now recognizes the Egyptian Certificate of Vaccination, if fully vaccinated.”

He said a traveler from Egypt must have received a full course of the AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccines at least 14 days before arriving in the UK.