TUI flights to Egypt

[crewmeal]

I've just read on an aviation forum that TUI are to restart flights to Sharm, Hurghada and Marsa Alam from Birmingham as of the middle of December. No doubt other regional airports will follow.

[newcastle]

Looks like TUI have cancelled their Birmingham flights to Egypt until mid Jan at the earliest.

[crewmeal]

Thanks for the info Newcastle. It deson't really surprise me as this seems to happen to most carriers postponing flights. I see Qantas will not allow international travel unless you have the vaccination. May be others will follow in cluding Egyptair.

[newcastle]

Qantas specialise in long haul flights where their passengers are contained in a small space for a long time.

I doubt short haul carriers like EasyJet, Pegasus etc will be following suit. It would be commercial suicide.

There might be some scope for the rapid flow test, if they can get it down to 1-2 hours.

[A-Four]

I remember this time last year looking forward to a extended visit to Egypt, perhaps a week in Cairo, two weeks in Luxor and a week each in both Essna and Aswan,this was to be my final visit, however things changed very quickly.

I can not for the life of me understand why anyone would want to visit Luxor or anywhere else in Egypt in the foreseeable future, and anyone who wishes to board a Boeing 737 or even a larger plane must be crazy. Ex-pats living in Luxor are suffering the same lock-downs as most sensible people in the U.K., or anywhere else in the world. The problem for Egypt is, it will take a lot longer for tourist to return there than other major tourist destinations. Will the likes of holiday insurance companies want to offer health insurance to a destination that is totally in denial of its serious Covid problem ?

I believe the situation in Egypt is far more serious than any one could ever imagine, most rural communities, would never want the stigma of villages knowing a family member had died of 'the plague', and would do everything to prevent such knowledge getting out. For people who think this attitude only exists in villages would be wrong. Upper Egyptian people are perhaps the greatest superstitious and hypochondriacs in the world.

Here in London, my nearest shopping area for food and fresh fruit and veg is in the East End, visiting there is a health risk at the best of times in these past few years, now it's a disaster area. Even Waitrose next to my home is a risk, so I do my shopping in the City of London,.....no one there.