Latest security advice for Sharm el Sheik - Egypt
15 November 2015 - RPS Partnership
The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is providing the following advice for travel to Egypt - Sharm el Sheik.
It is advising against all travel to:
The Governorate of North Sinai due to the significant increase in criminal activity and continued terrorist attacks on police and security forces that have resulted in deaths
The FCO advises against all but essential travel to:
The Governorate of South Sinai, with the exception of the area within the Sharm el Sheikh perimeter barrier, which includes the airport and the areas of Sharm el Maya, Hadaba, Naama Bay, Sharks Bay and Nabq
the area west of the Nile Valley and Nile Delta regions, excluding the coastal areas between the Nile Delta and Marsa Matruh (as shown on the map)
The area to which the FCO advise against all but essential travel does not include the tourist areas along the Nile river (eg Luxor, Qina, Aswan, Abu Simbel and the Valley of the Kings) or the Red Sea Resorts of Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada.
Sharm el Sheik
Over 900,000 British nationals visit Egypt every year. Most visits are trouble-free.
On 31 October 2015, a flight from Sharm el Sheikh to St Petersburg crashed in North Sinai. Egyptian and Russian authorities are conducting an investigation. There’s a significant possibility that the crash was caused by an explosive device. As a precautionary measure, we are now advising against all but essential travel by air to or from Sharm el Sheikh.
The FCO is not raising the threat level in the resort. The above advice applies only to air travel to and from Sharm el Sheikh. It has deployed consular staff to Sharm el Sheikh who are on hand at the airport and the resort, to help British nationals.
Regular flights to and from the UK to Sharm el Sheikh were suspended on 4 November. Special security measures are now in place to allow travellers already in Sharm el Sheikh to return to the UK by air safely. These extra measures will be in place up to and including Tuesday 17 November.
If you’re visiting Sharm el Sheikh now, you should contact your airline or travel company and make arrangements to leave by Tuesday 17 November at the latest.
If you choose to remain in Sharm el Sheikh after Tuesday 17 November, you’ll need to make your own arrangements for returning to the UK. This may involve having to travel with an airline to which extra security measures eg separate baggage flights, don’t apply. The FCO is recommending that all travellers should make their own decisions about the risk based on the information in the travel advice.
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