Russia Expecting Report of EgyptAir Hijacking Before Security Decision Made

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia is expecting key questions to be answered over the hijacked EgyptAir commercial jet before deciding whether additional demands be made to Egypt in its airport security, Russian Deputy Transport Minister Valery Okulov said Thursday.

"So far there are no official responses to key questions: Did the hijacker have a weapon or not, was there a bomb or not? So far the preliminary information that we have received says that apparently there wasn’t [a weapon or bomb]. When investigations are conducted, then it will be more or less clear, and then we’ll make the decision," Okulov told journalists.

On Tuesday, a man identified as Seif Eldin Mustafa, allegedly motivated by personal reasons, hijacked the passenger aircraft with 81 passengers on board en route from Egypt’s Alexandria to Cairo. The plane subsequently landed in Cyprus's Larnaca airport, where the hijacker was detained after negotiations with local authorities.

Russia suspended all flights to and from Egypt last fall after a Russian A321 plane crashed in the Sinai desert on October 31 while flying from the resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. All 224 people on board died in what has become the largest civil aviation disaster in Russian history. Britain also suspended flights to Sharm el-Sheikh after the Russian plane crash.

Russian and Egyptian air safety experts have been working to improve security at Egyptian airports, which Moscow considers key to removing its flights ban.