British Airways abandons flights to Sharm el Sheikh 'indefinitely'

BA has suspended flights to Egyptian holiday resort Sharm el Sheikh indefinitely over safety fears.

The airline has abandoned flights to the beach destination amid terror fears following the bombing of a Russian passenger plane which killed 224 people last November.

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In a statement, British Airways said: "The safety and security of our customers will always be our top priorities and we have suspended our flights from Gatwick to Sharm el Sheikh indefinitely.

"Customers who hold bookings on any cancelled services for the coming winter season can claim a full refund or can use the money to cover a new booking with us for an alternative destination."

BA and other UK airlines suspended flights to the Red Sea resort on the instructions of the UK government on 4 November 2015.

Meanwhile, an Easyjet spokesman told the Daily Telegraph that the budget carrier "remains committed to resuming services to Sharm" when the government's advice changes.

Monarch has suspended flights to the resort until 30 October.

Earlier this year, it was reported that Egyptian authorities had upgraded its security, including a £20m programme to add more CCTV cameras and other measures, such as sniffer dogs, the BBC reports.

The country's tourism minister, Yehia Rashed, said: "We have put a lot of new equipment in, we will continue to put a lot of equipment in. We're training and retraining the people."