EasyJet and BA confirm all flights to and from Sharm el Sheikh suspended until January 2016

Around 5,000 passengers were booked on easyJet flights to the Egyptian resort

An Airbus in British airline EasyJet livery (Getty)

British Airways and easyJet have announced they will be cancelling all flights to and from Sharm el Sheikh until at least January 2016, after a Russian airliner was bombed and crashed in the Sinai peninsular.

The budget airline was the first to announce plans to continue its ban on flights to the resort into the New Year, shortly followed by British Airways, who have suspended flights until 14 January.

A BA statement said: “Following advice from the UK Government about the situation in Sharm el Sheikh we will not be operating any flights to or from the holiday resort up to and including Thursday January 14, 2016.

“We are keeping flights which are scheduled to operate from Saturday January 16, 2016 under review. The safety and security of our customers will continue to be our top priorities in any decisions we may make.

“Customers who were due to travel on a cancelled flight claim a full refund or use the value of their ticket/holiday towards another flight/holiday on our network. They also have the option to rebook to an alternative date on a flight to Sharm el Sheikh.”

A spokesman from BA said: "We only fly from Gatwick three times a week, so it is a very small part of our global network that will be affected."

Since the Airbus 321 operated by Russian airline Metrojet crashed on 31 October, killing 224 people, thousands of Britons have been returned to the UK.

Isis claimed responsibility for the bombing of the passenger jet and UK airlines have not used routes between Sharm and the UK since.

In a statement, the budget airline said: “You will be aware that over the last few weeks, there have been significant issues with flying to and from Sharm el Sheik.

“To help provide some clarity for our customers’ travel arrangements over the Christmas period, we can now confirm we will be cancelling all flights to and from Sharm el Sheikh until 16th January 2016.

“We are sorry for the inconvenience this will obviously cause, but we hope that being clear with all our customers at this point helps you to manage your plans with more certainty.

“The situation is beyond our control and passenger safety will always be our number one priority”.

EasyJet offered holiday makers who have booked flights to and from Sharm el Sheikh over the Christmas period three options; tickets to another destination within the easyJet network, a full refund or a voucher that can be used on future flights.

Around 5,000 passengers were booked on easyJet flights to the Egyptian resort.

Flights were suspended between the UK and the Red Sea resort earlier this month after the Foreign Office warned against all but essential travel to the airport.

Airline carriers Thomson, Thomas Cook and Monarch have cancelled their flights to Sharm el Sheikh up until 9, 10 and 19 December respectively.

A spokesperson from the Department of Transport said: “We are working with the Egyptian authorities on the issue, but it remains too early to say when direct flights might be resumed”.