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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/nov/06/tourists-return-from-egypt-amid-reports-bomb-in-hold-downed-russian-airliner-live-updates
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| EasyJet says Egyptian authorities have suspended 'rescue flights' – live | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 10.01am GMT10:01 | |
| Amid the aftermath of Saturday’s loss of the plane, Russia does not appear to be letting up in its bombing campaign within Syria, ostensibly aimed as Islamic State-related targets. This from Reuters: | |
| Air strikes by Russian warplanes on the Islamic State-held Syrian city of Raqqa killed 42 people earlier this week, including 27 civilians, monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday. | |
| Fifteen Islamic State fighters made up the remainder of the death toll, the Britain-based Observatory said, after a series of strikes on Tuesday that hit the group’s Syrian stronghold. | |
| 9.50am GMT09:50 | |
| EasyJet says today's flights "suspended by Egyptian authorities" | |
| Despite the UK government reassurances of Egyptian cooperation, EasyJet says its flights to remove tourists from Sharm el-Sheikh today have been suspended by authorities there. At the top of the airline’s website a statement says: | |
| We’re sorry to inform passengers that our rescue plans that were put in place yesterday have been suspended by the Egyptian authorities. | |
| Discussions are currently on-going at the highest political level to resolve this situation. We are very sorry and understand that this is extremely frustrating for our passengers - unfortunately the situation is outside of easyJet’s control. | |
| Updated at 9.57am GMT | |
| 9.40am GMT09:40 | |
| Andrew Sparrow | |
| There have been some rumours that British planes heading to Sharm el-Sheikh were not being allowed to land by Egyptian authorities. This doesn’t seem to be true, says my colleague Andrew Sparrow. | |
| In London a senior government source rejected claims that the Egyptian authorities were being uncooperative at Sharm el-Sheikh, and the British planes being sent to pick up holidaymakers were being denied permission to land. The problems were just down to numbers, the source said. | |
| “The challenge that we are are working through at Sharm is that the airlines want to clear the backlog, and bring home all the people due back from Wednesday onwards, and that would require a more than tripling of the normal flights on a Friday. And there are lots of other airlines flying out from the airport too. That is a lot of flights for an airport that is already very busy. It is just about sheer numbers, and that is what we are trying to work through,” the source said. | |
| “The Egyptians are working with us. But they want to do it in a manageable way.” | |
| 9.37am GMT09:37 | |
| Despite today’s focus on the plight of some luggage-less, queue-bound tourists, it’s important to remember the main point of this story: the death of 224 people on Saturday when their plane broke up over Egypt. | |
| The Russian news agency Tass reports today that a Russian government plane has taken off from Cairo to St Petersburg carrying victims’ remains and their personal belongings. It is the third such flight so far. | |
| A separate Tass report says Russian teams have now searched 40sq km of desert around the crash site for remains and possessions. | |
| 9.22am GMT09:22 | 9.22am GMT09:22 |
| More scenes from Sharm el-Sheikh airport. | More scenes from Sharm el-Sheikh airport. |
| And not everyone at the airport is stressed. | And not everyone at the airport is stressed. |
| 8.50am GMT08:50 | 8.50am GMT08:50 |
| The Associated Press has been talking to some of those waiting at the airport: | The Associated Press has been talking to some of those waiting at the airport: |
| “We were in the first flights that were cancelled Wednesday night, we were already queuing to board,” said Amy Johnson, a 27-year-old British administrative assistant hoping to catch one of Friday’s EasyJet flights out of Sharm el-Sheikh. | “We were in the first flights that were cancelled Wednesday night, we were already queuing to board,” said Amy Johnson, a 27-year-old British administrative assistant hoping to catch one of Friday’s EasyJet flights out of Sharm el-Sheikh. |
| Standing in a crush of hundreds waiting to pass through security, Johnson said she didn’t feel that British authorities have adequately supported the stranded tourists. “We’re being left to deal with this ourselves.” | Standing in a crush of hundreds waiting to pass through security, Johnson said she didn’t feel that British authorities have adequately supported the stranded tourists. “We’re being left to deal with this ourselves.” |
| Another tourist, Terrance Mathurian, a British builder travelling with his family, said they were told by hotel staff in the morning to head to the airport, following conflicting information. | Another tourist, Terrance Mathurian, a British builder travelling with his family, said they were told by hotel staff in the morning to head to the airport, following conflicting information. |
| Looking at the long security line, he said that he “can understand why they have this situation here but personally, we’ve had no problems at all”. | Looking at the long security line, he said that he “can understand why they have this situation here but personally, we’ve had no problems at all”. |
| 8.33am GMT08:33 | 8.33am GMT08:33 |
| This morning page one of the Sun also has some strong allegations about security at the airport. However, if you read the story it seems a bit thinly sourced. | This morning page one of the Sun also has some strong allegations about security at the airport. However, if you read the story it seems a bit thinly sourced. |
| Friday's Sun front page: £15 to skip Sharm guards #tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers pic.twitter.com/or5u2Px5WG | Friday's Sun front page: £15 to skip Sharm guards #tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers pic.twitter.com/or5u2Px5WG |
| 8.30am GMT08:30 | 8.30am GMT08:30 |
| Among those at Sharm el-Sheikh airport is Wael Hussein, a producer for the BBC in Cairo. It’s fair to say he’s not overly impressed with the way the crowds are being dealt with. | Among those at Sharm el-Sheikh airport is Wael Hussein, a producer for the BBC in Cairo. It’s fair to say he’s not overly impressed with the way the crowds are being dealt with. |
| Security checks at Sharm airport this morning absolute nonsense, hundreds of staff, false, useless check #sharmelsheikh | Security checks at Sharm airport this morning absolute nonsense, hundreds of staff, false, useless check #sharmelsheikh |
| Airport staff persuading Arab tourists to pay extra money for quick service, not queue in lines pic.twitter.com/a8YRMwPALp | Airport staff persuading Arab tourists to pay extra money for quick service, not queue in lines pic.twitter.com/a8YRMwPALp |
| Airport staff collecting money for Quick service pic.twitter.com/3bvNaHoGfj | Airport staff collecting money for Quick service pic.twitter.com/3bvNaHoGfj |
| 8.26am GMT08:26 | 8.26am GMT08:26 |
| McLoughlin is asked on the Today programme why it was the UK in particular who acquired the intelligence that led to the postponement of flights. He replied: | McLoughlin is asked on the Today programme why it was the UK in particular who acquired the intelligence that led to the postponement of flights. He replied: |
| The simple fact was, were were given certain evidence that we took very seriously and we took a response that we thought was proportionate on the evidence that we got. | The simple fact was, were were given certain evidence that we took very seriously and we took a response that we thought was proportionate on the evidence that we got. |
| He was similarly vague when asked if the UK had shared its intelligence with Egypt and Russia: | He was similarly vague when asked if the UK had shared its intelligence with Egypt and Russia: |
| The information that we are able to share, we have obviously shared it with other countries. | The information that we are able to share, we have obviously shared it with other countries. |
| 8.21am GMT08:21 | 8.21am GMT08:21 |
| Here’s the latest images from a very, very busy Sharm el-Sheikh airport. | Here’s the latest images from a very, very busy Sharm el-Sheikh airport. |
| 8.17am GMT08:17 | 8.17am GMT08:17 |
| The very busy McLoughlin is now on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. He says the tourists’ luggage will be flown home separately in “the next week to ten days”. He says he hopes people will be patient: | The very busy McLoughlin is now on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. He says the tourists’ luggage will be flown home separately in “the next week to ten days”. He says he hopes people will be patient: |
| I ask for their understanding. These are very difficult things. It’s had to be rearranged very quickly. | I ask for their understanding. These are very difficult things. It’s had to be rearranged very quickly. |
| British security experts are at Sharm el-Sheikh airport to check on security measures. For now, though, McLoughlin says, the British government advice is for people to not fly there, while the resort itself is deemed to be safe. | British security experts are at Sharm el-Sheikh airport to check on security measures. For now, though, McLoughlin says, the British government advice is for people to not fly there, while the resort itself is deemed to be safe. |
| 8.13am GMT08:13 | 8.13am GMT08:13 |
| The transport secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, has been doing the rounds of breakfast TV to confirm that most Britons should get home by the end of today. He refused to comment on the BBC reports about the suspected bomb. | The transport secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, has been doing the rounds of breakfast TV to confirm that most Britons should get home by the end of today. He refused to comment on the BBC reports about the suspected bomb. |
| Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain (quotes via Press Association), he said: | Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain (quotes via Press Association), he said: |
| The airlines have been incredibly cooperative with us to sort this out and we are going to have a number of aircraft going out today and bringing people back home. I think most of the people who were expecting to be home by tonight will be home by tonight. | The airlines have been incredibly cooperative with us to sort this out and we are going to have a number of aircraft going out today and bringing people back home. I think most of the people who were expecting to be home by tonight will be home by tonight. |
| Talking to BBC1’s Breakfast (quotes also from PA), McLoughlin said more than 20 flights would leave the airport over the course of the day. He said: | Talking to BBC1’s Breakfast (quotes also from PA), McLoughlin said more than 20 flights would leave the airport over the course of the day. He said: |
| This has been a very difficult set of circumstances and I do understand the frustration felt by people who are on holiday wanting to return home. | This has been a very difficult set of circumstances and I do understand the frustration felt by people who are on holiday wanting to return home. |
| Restrictions on hold luggage and the suspension of passenger flights into Sharm el-Sheikh would remain in place “until we’ve got longer-term assurances about the security at the airport”, he said. | Restrictions on hold luggage and the suspension of passenger flights into Sharm el-Sheikh would remain in place “until we’ve got longer-term assurances about the security at the airport”, he said. |
| At the moment, the advice is that we don’t advise people to fly into Sharm el-Sheikh. We don’t have any problems with the safety of the resort itself but we are concerned about flights into Sharm el-Sheikh. I hope we can restore our confidence in the security of the airport as soon as possible. | At the moment, the advice is that we don’t advise people to fly into Sharm el-Sheikh. We don’t have any problems with the safety of the resort itself but we are concerned about flights into Sharm el-Sheikh. I hope we can restore our confidence in the security of the airport as soon as possible. |
| McLoughlin told ITV that British experts had visited Sharm el-Sheikh airport ten months ago to check on security arrangements and had “satisfied ourselves that things were OK”. Asked if failing had been missed then, he said: | McLoughlin told ITV that British experts had visited Sharm el-Sheikh airport ten months ago to check on security arrangements and had “satisfied ourselves that things were OK”. Asked if failing had been missed then, he said: |
| I don’t think we missed them. We took a view on security as we saw it on the day. Things have moved on, and what happened on Saturday and the subsequent information we got gave us very great concern indeed about the security, and that’s why we took the decision that we took. | I don’t think we missed them. We took a view on security as we saw it on the day. Things have moved on, and what happened on Saturday and the subsequent information we got gave us very great concern indeed about the security, and that’s why we took the decision that we took. |
| We have to work with the authorities in these airports and we got assurances that things were improved. Obviously, things have changed. | We have to work with the authorities in these airports and we got assurances that things were improved. Obviously, things have changed. |
| 7.58am GMT07:58 | 7.58am GMT07:58 |
| Good morning | Good morning |
| Welcome to today’s live blog about the aftermath of the crash of a Russian Metrojet Airbus, which seemingly disintegrated over the Sinai on Saturday, killing all 224 people on board. Here’s where we are so far today: | Welcome to today’s live blog about the aftermath of the crash of a Russian Metrojet Airbus, which seemingly disintegrated over the Sinai on Saturday, killing all 224 people on board. Here’s where we are so far today: |