Fury of Britons stranded in Sharm el-Sheikh amid Egypt airlift chaos

Hopeful: Tourists gather at easyJet check-in desks
EPA

The great exodus of Britons from Egypt began amid chaos today as authorities there refused to let rescue aircraft land.

Angry passengers who had queued for hours to check in at Sharm el-Sheikh for flights home were stopped from boarding at the last moment and sent back to their hotels.

The drama came as thousands of future winter-sun holidays were put in doubt as a Cabinet minister said the Government would “not hesitate” to copy the action taken this week in Egypt if any other airport failed to show it had adequate security.

The first aircraft, carrying 339 passengers, were set to take off from Sharm el-Sheikh more than two hours late. But easyJet said it was only being allowed to operate two out of the 10 aircraft it had laid on to bring passengers home by this evening.

It added: “The Egyptian authorities have suspended UK airlines from flying into Sharm el-Sheikh. This means eight of our 10 planned flights today can no longer operate.”

Trapped: British tourists at Sharm el-Sheikh airport
Reuters

Seven of the airline’s cancelled flights had been due to fly to Luton, Gatwick or Stansted. In total, more than 20 flights were supposed to be bringing an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 Britons home today.

But after the first scheduled departure time of 9am passed without an aircraft leaving, the Government was unable to say how many would set off. Only hours earlier Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin had said “well in excess of 20 flights” were taking people home.

Information: British Ambassador to Egypt John Casson talks to journalists at the airport
Reuters

The Sharm el-Sheikh crisis follows the downing of a Russian airliner by suspected Islamist terrorists — possibly involving a bomb in the hold.

Today it seemed aircraft already parked at Sharm were being allowed to fly, but the problem — blamed by officials on over-capacity — would affect the extra planes being sent from the UK.

It also emerged that passengers will have to wait up to “several weeks” before they are reunited with luggage they have been told to leave behind.

Mr McLoughlin warned that flights from other airports may be grounded unless security arrangements are up to scratch, saying: “If they don’t take the measures we want, then other consequences will follow.

“We will not hesitate to take the kind of action we have taken this week. I don’t think anybody can be in any doubt about that after what they have seen us do this week.”

The first sign of the security crackdown spreading came when Dutch carrier KLM told passengers leaving Cairo they would only be allowed to take hand luggage. Passenger Kate Dodd, of Manchester, said: “There’s lots of anger among some people but most, like us, feel we want to get home safely.” She said many had to leave behind heavy laptops as there was a strict 5kg limit on hand luggage and no hold bags.

British Embassy staff assist in the evacuation of tourists at Sharm el-Sheikh airport
AP

“They gave us a list of what we can take — phones and keys and those kind of things,” she said.

The Department for Transport sources said that it was working closely with the Egyptian authorities and airlines and that some flights would be returning to the UK today.

Holidaymakers were being advised not to come to Sharm’s airport until they had confirmed their flight was due to depart. Monarch said it expected two scheduled flights and three extra “rescue flights” to operate today. British Airways said one scheduled flight was expected to leave.

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