EasyJet to return to Sharm el Sheikh in June

‘Local traders, restaurants and hotels are so glad that the British are back’ – Paul Eldred, long-stay visitor to the Egyptian resort

EasyJet returns to Sharm el Sheikh in June after a four-year gap (PA)

Britain's biggest budget airline is to return to Sharm el Sheikh after a gap of over four years.

Flights on easyJet from Manchester will resume on 7 June – bringing back the longest route on the network, at 2,555 miles.

From Gatwick, flights to Egypt’s leading resort will start again on 30 September.

In October 2015, 224 people were killed when a Metrojet charter flight to St Petersburg crashed soon after it holiday taken off from Sharm el Sheikh.

After the worst aviation disaster Russia has known, many countries banned their airlines from flying to Egypt’s premier resort.

Passengers on easyJet and other UK airlines were flown home on planes with empty holds; their baggage was flown separately.

The UK ban eventually ended in October 2019, after airport security at Sharm el Sheikh was deemed to be sufficiently enhanced.

Charter flights to Sharm el Sheikh resumed just before Christmas, but easyJet’s return will prove highly significant – especially for the peak winter season.

The budget airline is also extending its winter flights from Manchester to another Egyptian Red Sea resort, Hurghada, to operate year-round from 1 June.

Stephen Turner, commercial director at Manchester Airport, said: “The return of easyJet’s route to Sharm el Sheikh is very welcome and we are sure it will prove immensely popular with sunseekers all year round.”

Ali Gayward, UK Country Manager, easyJet, said: “Sharm el Sheikh and Hurghada are both fantastic destinations for both summer and winter sun, with stunning beaches boasting crystal clear waters and great diving and marine life to explore.”

Paul Eldred, a long-stay visitor to Sharm el Sheikh, told The Independent: “The local traders, restaurants and hotels – at least those that are still open, many have been forced to close – are so glad that the British are back.

“Tourism has suffered so much due to the loss of British, German and Russian tourists.”

The Foreign Office warns: “Terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Egypt.”