UK Government Lift Ban on Flights to Sharm El Sheikh

[gilesdavies]

The UK government have finally lifted the ban on flights originating from the UK to Sharm El Sheikh after the Russian aircraft terrorist bombing of a MetroJet A321 in 2015.

Will be interesting to see how UK airlines/tour operators react to the news.

A lot has changed in that time, Monarch and Thomas Cook were big players on this route, along with easyJet and TUI. At one point even BA flew a 777-200 on the route daily.

easyJet and TUI do still have a presence on routes to Hurghada.

With the winter season fast approaching and aircraft not being optimised as much as during the summer, airlines like easyJet could quite quickly react and restart routes. It does however block out an aircraft for 12 hours and quite a drain on crew hours, for what is quite a low yielding route during the winter, when you could easily get flights previously for around £150 return!

Many European countries allowed routes to be restarted to SSH several years ago, so it is still a very popular destination.

[toledoashley]

As you say, availability of aircraft given the long sector length is going to be key in the short term.

[ShyTorque]

I hope the atmosphere there has improved. Having been flying for a living for a very long time, Sharm was one of the very airports I've flown to/from where I felt instinctively uneasy. Just a feeling in the water, but we decided not to go back there as a family, not long before the airliner was tragically brought down.

[flyerguy]

I have flown very recently via IST with TK and the locals in SSH were very happy to see us and explained they can’t wait for the British to return!

Hopefully TUI and EZY will return from all over the U.K. and I suspect BA will be looking into reinstating the LGW-SSH very soon.

[Travel Agent]

Enter Air are doing weekly charters for Red Sea Holidays from 22nd Dec and went on sale this afternoon!

[davidjohnson6]

I imagine that in the first 12 months, airlines will be a bit cautious on flying to Sharm due to uncertainty over demand. Assuming Sharm remains quiet, demand will presumably increase significantly

There's only so much demand for a week on the beach by Brits - annual holiday allowance at work, school term dates and having to pay for the holiday all have an influence here, along with finite airport and aircraft capacity

Anyone care to suggest which areas of the Med might see a reduction in demand for summer hols ? Turkey ? Greece ? Bulgaria ? Spain ?

[rog747]

Originally Posted by davidjohnson6

I imagine that in the first 12 months, airlines will be a bit cautious on flying to Sharm due to uncertainty over demand. Assuming Sharm remains quiet, demand will presumably increase significantly

There's only so much demand for a week on the beach by Brits - annual holiday allowance at work, school term dates and having to pay for the holiday all have an influence here, along with finite airport and aircraft capacity

Anyone care to suggest which areas of the Med might see a reduction in demand for summer hols ? Turkey ? Greece ? Bulgaria ? Spain ?

Turkey Tunisia and Egypt are all highly volatile places to operate into - security has been up and down like a yo-yo and the loss of Egypt business was pivotal in Monarch's demise.

For the Brits many SSH sun seekers love it there and will want to flock back there especially in the winter, however everyone is short of planes - TUI have 9 737 MAX grounded and we have lost both MON and TCK.
BA got their fingers burnt twice operating into SSH and Jet2 have not ventured into Egypt or Tunisia (very wise IMHO) Watch this space it seems.

I just hope that the UK travel industry and the FCO and Govt lifting the ban on air travel into and out of SSH is not just a knee jerk attempt to get folk travelling again after the huge loss of TCK.

Countries that are suffering badly from TCK going under is Greece and Spain where hotels are closed being owed £££m's and 1000's of staff laid off.
SSH was a huge market in its hey day.