British Airways will scrap scheduled flights to the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh from May as political unrest in the region hurts passenger numbers, the airline confirmed.
Tourist figures in the Arab state have tumbled in the wake of violent protests that forced President Hosni Mubarak from power after three decades of rule.
“This decision is purely down to commercial reasons,” a British Airways spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Arabian Business.
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The British airline, which in January merged with Spain’s Iberia to form International Consolidated Airlines Group, said it would retain its flights to Cairo.
“[This schedule] is now back to normal,” the spokesperson said.
The number of tourists visiting Egypt in February slumped to 211,000 from 1.1 million in the same month last year, the state statistics agency told Reuters last month.
Tourism spending also fell in the month to $385m compared with $825m in February 2010.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) in March said political unrest in the Arab world is estimated to have cut international traffic by around one percent.
“As the unrest in Egypt and Tunisia spreads across the Middle East and North Africa, demand growth across the region is taking a step back,” said director general Giovanni Bisignani.
Egypt’s hotel industry has also feel the pinch, with occupancy levels in the capital sliding continuously since January 29, four days after demonstrations began, said STR Global.
Occupancy levels were below 20 percent by the close of February while average room rates fell to approximately EGP750 ($126.79), STR Global, which tracks the daily hotel performance from 24 hotels in Cairo, said.
British Airways is not the only airline to amend its scheduled flights to Egypt. Polish carrier LOT said last week it would stop flights to Egypt while Air France is to reduce the number of flights it operates to North Africa.
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