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Hurghada Airport on Tuesday received it’s first flight from Finland, the aircraft A321 of the Finnair airline, after a 6-year-suspension of Finnish flights to Egypt.
The aircraft carried 207 tourists on board.
The Red Sea governor and officials of the Hurghada International Airport welcomed the Finnish tourists upon their arrival according to Ehab Shoukry, Chairman of the tourism company which organized the Finnish tourists’ trip and a member of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Tourism Companies.
Shoukry added that the return of Finnish tourists put the Red Sea on the global tourist map again.
Egypt aims to attract 25,000 Finnish tourists at the beginning of 2019.
Egypt had been experiencing a severe decline in tourism numbers following the revolutions in 2011 and 2013 and then the downing of a Russian plane over Sinai in 2015. However, numbers have been rising again following President Sisi’s successes in reestablishing security and stability and attracting foreign investments and tourists.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm