Russian Experts Complete Security Checks of Cairo Airport

CAIRO (Sputnik) — The delegation is expected to leave Egypt in the next few hours a return to Moscow to prepare a report based on the results of the inspection, the Sada El Balad newspaper said.

The experts met with respective Egyptian authorities, but did not provide any significant comments regarding the state of airport security, the newspaper added.

Earlier in the day, local media reported, citing its sources, that Russian experts approved security measures at the airport.

The delegation of Russian experts arrived in Cairo late on Monday and started the inspection on Tuesday. The experts examined one of the gates at the Cairo International Airport Terminal 2, which would be used for the boarding of Aeroflot passengers after flights are resumed. They also examined the measures taken by Egypt to ensure the security of passengers, luggage and airport personnel entering staff-only areas, as well as the cargo zone, video surveillance system and the recently installed biometric equipment for scanning staff entering the building.

In November 2015, Moscow suspended flights between Russia and Egypt after a Russian passenger plane crashed over the Sinai peninsula, killing all 224 people on board. Russia subsequently qualified the incident as a terrorist act. Work to determine the causes of the crash is still underway. Following the crash, Russia suggested that Egypt should increase security measures and sign a joint Egypt-Russia aviation security protocol.

Egypt undertook massive security upgrades in its airports after the incident in an effort to comply with Russian demands and resume air traffic.