President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree restoring Russian flights to the Egyptian capital, two years after flights were suspended following a deadly terrorist attack on a passenger jet bound for Russia.
MetroJet Flight 9268 crashed over the Sinai Peninsula on Oct. 31, 2015, killing all 224 people on board. Investigators later confirmed that a bomb planted in the oversize baggage compartment had downed the St. Petersburg-bound plane.
The decree published on Thursday exempts Cairo from the November 2015 executive order halting Russian passenger flights to Egypt.
The exemption does not affect other Egyptian cities, including Sharm el-Sheikh, the Red Sea resort from which the ill-fated jet carrying Russian tourists had departed.
Egypt was one of the top destinations for Russian tourists before the deadly terrorist attack.
