Tui and Red Sea Holidays have confirmed they will return to Sharm el Sheikh after the UK government’s flight ban was lifted.
The FCO is no longer advising against all but essential travel by air to and from the Egyptian resort after a four-year ban having worked with Egyptian authorities to enable flights to resume.
Sharm’s prohibition followed the crash of a Russian Metrojet flight in North Sinai in October 2015 which killed 224 passengers and crew.
A Tui spokesperson said: “We will reintroduce Sharm el Sheikh, taking into account customer demand, and will now work closely with our hotel and airport partners, so we can confirm more details in due course.
“Sharm el Sheikh was always a popular holiday destination with our customers and we welcome the change in travel advice by the UK government.”
Red Sea Holidays’ senior trade relations manager has predicted the operator could reveal its plan to return to Sharm in just a week.
Ashley Secker told TTG the company wanted to “get back as soon as possible” using either charter airlift or low-cost carriers "whichever went back first”.
He said in the next week the operator would be able to give a firmer timeframe to agents about its plans to return but had already seen “amazing support” from trade partners as the news broke this morning.
“The office is absolutely buzzing – we really didn’t expect it but it’s brilliant news for us and the whole industry. It’s very welcome after the difficult recent weeks everyone has faced.”
Red Sea Holidays’ parent Red Sea Hotels is already currently in Sharm, which Secker said would give his company an advantage to plot a quick comeback.