Irish people advised not to travel to Egypt amid terror threat

The Department of Foreign Affairs has advised against all nonessential travel to Egypt, citing a heightened risk of targeted attacks against foreigners and a continuing threat of civil unrest.

About 170 Irish passport-holders in Egypt have registered with the department, although that includes long-term residents of Egypt and others who are based in the country.

It is believed a number of Irish holiday-makers are in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh, in the Sinai peninsula, but figures are not available.

All Irish and UK flights to and from the peninsula were suspended amid concerns a Russian plane that crashed in the region last weekend may have been brought down by a bomb.

The order by the Irish Aviation Authority bans Irish operators travelling to Sharm el-Sheikh or in the peninsula's airspace until further notice.

Foreign-based operators

Although no scheduled flights operate between

Ireland

and Cairo or other Egyptian destinations at this time of year, Irish authorities believe some tourists may have travelled to the peninsula with foreign-based operators.

The department advised Irish citizens in Sharm el-Sheikh, or planning to travel there, to contact their tour operator or airline for more information.

“Irish citizens are advised to avoid nonessential travel to Egypt at this time due to a heightened threat of terrorist incidents, including targeted attacks against foreigners, and a continuing threat of civil unrest,” it said.

Exceptions specified by the Irish authorities are the coastal resort of Hurghada and other Red Sea resorts outside the Sinai peninsula, where citizens are advised to arrive and depart by air and to strictly avoid travelling outside the resort; and Luxor, Aswan and Abu Simbel, where visitors are urged to be cautious and travel by air.

Register

A spokeswoman for the department urged all Irish people in the country to register their contact details through its website.

In Britain, EasyJet said it would send 10 flights to Sharm el-Sheikh today to start repatriating about 20,000 people.

Other operators, including Monarch Airlines and Thomas Cook, were drawing up plans for their emergency services.

EasyJet has about 4,500 customers stuck in Sinai, including 1,800 who were due to fly out yesterday on six services – five to the UK and one to Milan.

Monarch Airlines said it had about 3,000 passengers there. Thomas Cook said it had 1,700 customers in the Red Sea resort.