Airlines Cancel Flights to Cairo Over Safety Concerns
On Saturday, British Airways and Lufthansa both announced that they were suspending flights to Cairo, noting only that the reason was related to safety and security.
British Airways said flights to the Egyptian capital would be cancelled for a week, while Lufthansa appears to have only cancelled flights for one day on Saturday, noting in a statement they shared with flight analyst Alex Macheras that, “As safety is the number one priority of Lufthansa, the airline has temporarily suspended its flights to Cairo today as a precaution, while further assessment is being made.”
Full statement from Lufthansa —regarding the suspension of #Cairo flights, which is effective today. pic.twitter.com/1dKbNDoejP
— Alex Macheras (@AlexInAir) July 20, 2019
Meanwhile, British Airways called their cancellations “a precaution to allow for further assessment,” according to reporting by the Associated Press. Macheras noted on Twitter that “BA are typically a very cautious airline — but also well within their rights to act on their own ongoing safety assessments & intelligence (without any prompt from government),” while the Egyptian General expressed “outrage and fury” at British Airways’ decision on Alaraby TV.
%image1
Flights to Cairo from the U.K. are still operating on easyJet, TUI, and Thomas Cook, with Britsh Airways booking some passengers who were displaced with the cancellations on EgyptAir, according to a post by Macheras on Saturday.
Flights from UK with easyJet, TUI and Thomas Cook are set to fly to #Egypt as normal tomorrow — despite British Airways suspending the route citing security reasons ⚠️ #Cairo
— Alex Macheras (@AlexInAir) July 20, 2019
The cancellations come after Iran’s seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, according to the Associated Press.
