Sixty-three flights to and from Egypt have been canceled since Friday due to violence in downtown Cairo and around Egypt, a source at Cairo International Airport said.
Clashes in downtown Cairo have continued since Saturday, when police forces violently dispersed a sit-in by protesters — mainly people injured in the January uprising that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak in February.
The events in Tahrir, and news about another possible demonstration on Tuesday, hindered flight activity at the airport, the official source told Al-Masry Al-Youm.
He added that the cancellations, which started early Saturday, include 39 EgyptAir flights, as well as 14 more flights by Arab and foreign airliners, including Tunisian, Italian and Jordanian flights.
Ali Reda, the head of the Red Sea Tourism Investment Association, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that a number of major European tourism companies have announced that they are halting trips to and reservations for the Red Sea area after the situation in Tahrir worsened.
Reda said that those countries represent the primary source for incoming tourism to the Red Sea area, warning that continued violence will be a disaster for Egypt's tourism industry.
Meanwhile, a number of experts and tourism company owners in the Red Sea area said the turmoil's full impact on tourism will become clear over the coming days.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
