Egypt’s Aviation Minister Sherif Fathy and the country’s public prosecutor Nabil Sadek flew to Moscow on Tuesday to provide Russian officials with the latest findings on Cairo’s investigation into the crash of a Russian airliner in Sinai last October.

State news agency MENA said the chief of an investigation committee probing the plane crash, Ayman Al-Moqadem, is among the Egyptian delegation.

Fathy paid a multi-day visit to Russia last week during which he briefed Russian officials on recent security measures adopted at Egyptian airports and looked into the resumption of Russian civilian flights to Egypt, halted over security concerns in the wake of the October 2015 plane disaster which killed all 224 on board.

Egypt said it has fulfilled 85 percent of Russia’s demands regarding aviation safety and is now expecting steps to be taken by the Russian side towards resuming flights.

Russia said a bomb destroyed the airliner, and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi eluded in February that the plane was downed due to “terrorism.”

Egyptian tourism, a pillar of the economy and a key source of hard currency, has taken a blow since the plane crash, with the Red Sea Resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, from which the passenger jet had departed, believed to be suffering the most.

The Egyptian affiliate of the Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the October crash, saying it had smuggled a bomb on board.

Source: english.ahram.org.eg