EasyJet has cancelled all flights to Sharm el-Sheikh until 2016, with the prospects of a quick return for British tourists to the Red Sea resort fading in the wake of theRussian plane bombing.
About 5,000 passengers were booked on the flights, which have been called off due to continuing security worries.
The low-cost airline is the first to extend its suspension into the new year, from 25 November until at least 6 January.
Two other carriers, Thomas Cook Airlines and Thomson Airways, have also stopped flights and holidays until 10 December and 9 December respectively, as the chances grow that all peak-season holidays to Egypt’s most popular winter sun destination will be called off. Monarch had already scrapped departures until 19 December.
EasyJet said it had decided to announce the continued suspension to provide certainty for people planning their Christmas holidays. The airline said customers with tickets to Sharm could receive a full refund, fly to another destination or choose to have a voucher for use on future flights.
Customers were told on Monday night that the flights would be scrapped. In an emailed statement, easyJet said: “You will be aware that over the past few weeks, there have been significant issues associated with flying to and from Sharm el-Sheikh.
“To help provide some certainty for our customers’ travel arrangements over the Christmas period, we can now confirm we will be cancelling all flights to and from Sharm el-Sheikh until 6 January 2016.
“The situation is beyond our control and passenger safety will always be our number one priority.”
Department for Transport inspectors are still reviewing airport security in Sharm el-Sheikh, with strong suspicions that an insider or compromised security may have led to an improvised bomb being placed aboard the Metrojet aircraft that crashed soon after takeoff last month, killing 224 people.
Isis claimed responsibility for the bombing. Russia and Britain, whose citizens make up the bulk of visitors to Egypt, have brought tourists home and suspended direct flights to Sharm el-Sheikh.
On Monday, the general secretary of the British Airline Pilots Association, Jim McAuslan, said pilots had expressed concerns over the resort and were seeking reassurances about flights to the nearby Red Sea airport of Hurghada, although he stressed that there was no evidence of lax security.