Emergency flights to bring home 20,000 British tourists from Sharm el-Sheikh

Empty passenger planes are being sent to Sharm el-Sheik in Egypt to bring home thousands of UK tourists stranded in the resort.

The emergency measures come after David Cameron made the decision on Wednesday to cancel all flights between Britain and Sharm airport amid security concerns.


See also: Egypt slams UK over Sharm el-Sheikh flights move amid bomb fears

See also: Thousands of Brits stranded in Sharm as UK pulls flights

It is believed highly possible that a bomb may have brought down a Russia passenger plane 23 minutes after it left Sharm on Saturday, killing all 224 people on board.

Sky News reports that planes will be sent to pick up Brits stranded at the airport.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said regular flights to and from Sharm could be disrupted until Christmas.

Nineteen flights that were due to leave the UK for Sharm today have been cancelled, and they would have also been used to bring back holidaymakers.

According to the Independent, Mr Hammond said: "We're working with the airlines and the Egyptian authorities now to put in place emergency short-term measures that will allow us to safely bring back the British tourists who are there in Sharm.

"We expect those to be in place by tomorrow so that people whose flights were due out yesterday or today should start to move out tomorrow (Friday).

"Those emergency measures will remain in place as we bring out the British tourists who are currently in Sharm el-Sheikh over the next week or 10 days."

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