British Airways announced on Saturday that it was canceling all flights to Cairo with immediate effect for a period of seven days “as a precaution to allow for further assessment.” The U.K.’s Foreign Office has warned travelers to Egypt that “There’s a heightened risk of terrorism against aviation. Additional security measures are in place for flights departing from Egypt to the U.K.”
Though no further and more specific reasons were given for the flight cancelations, Lufthansa, which operates flights from Cairo to Munich and Frankfurt, said it was also suspending flights until Sunday, citing “an unclear security situation”.
On Friday, the U.S. State Department updated its travel warning for Egypt: “the risks of travel to Egypt due to threats from terrorist and violent political opposition groups,” and that “terrorist attacks can occur anywhere in the country, including major metropolitan areas.” Egypt’s Ministry of Civil Aviation indicated in a statement on Saturday that the British embassy in Cairo had confirmed the decision was not issued by Britain’s transport or foreign ministries, adding it would add more flights from Cairo to London starting on Sunday “to facilitate transporting passengers during this period”.
Egyptian airport security sources told Reuters news agency that British staff had been assessing security at Cairo airport on Wednesday and Thursday before taking the decision; however, they provided no further details about what prompted the move.