Russian plane crash: Is Sharm el Sheikh a safe destination for British holidaymakers?

The man who pays his way

Sit tight: the FCO has not warned against visiting Sharm el Sheikh, but against flying in and out of its airport (AP)

It's 9am on Thursday and, unexpectedly, I have some spare time. At 11pm last night, the meeting that was planned to start now was cancelled.

My appointment had been made with Egypt's Minister of Tourism, Hisham Zaazou. It was originally intended to be a routine catch-up. The helpful PR intermediary who arranged the meeting had said: “Egypt's Tourism Authority is on the cusp of launching their first major international advertising campaign since the revolution, and Minister Zaazou can also talk about the campaign's role as he looks to rebuild trust with travellers.”

Then, last Saturday morning, Metrojet flight 9268 crashed in the Sinai Desert. The Airbus A321 was carrying 224 people home from holiday in Sharm el Sheikh to St Petersburg. Less than half an hour into the flight, their lives were lost and their families' lives were shattered.

The heartbroken relatives deserve answers based on evidence, rather than speculation and spin. Regrettably, rumour and intrigue have fuelled the debate raging among everyone from politicians to pilots about the cause.

By teatime on Wednesday, the politicians had prevailed. The British government was persuaded there was sufficient likelihood that the tragedy was mass murder, rather than misadventure. The captains of UK planes waiting on the ground at Sharm el Sheikh airport to depart, with a full load of passengers, were grounded on the orders of the Foreign Office.

The FCO said, in effect: “We still think Sharm el Sheikh is a safe destination for British holidaymakers, but we don't trust the aviation security there. Until we have set up our own screening operation at the airport, no-one can take off.” Later, they added that when flights are restored, checked-in baggage will be flown home separately.

Red Sea alert

As it happens, 9am on Thursday is also the time that British Airways flight 2560 had been due to depart from Gatwick, destination Sharm el Sheikh. It is going nowhere today, and neither are the holidaymakers in the Egyptian resort due to fly home on it. I am glad never to have been grounded in a foreign country because my own government is not happy with airport security. It must be an alarming experience.

But it's more difficult to imagine the emotions of the 3,000 or so people due to fly out from Britain to Sharm el Sheikh today to begin their holidays. Relief that they are not flying to an airport given an official red alert? Or disappointment that they are staying under grey skies rather than blue, and unable to dip a toe into the warm and welcoming Red Sea.

For the sake of the millions of Egyptians whose livelihoods depends on tourism, I hope it is the latter. Whether or not this tragedy has anything to do with terrorism, it has brought renewed attention to the risks that prevail in Egypt – and in particular the insurgency that has been going on for years between Islamists and the Egyptian army in Sinai. While the resorts on the Red Sea are protected by a ring of steel, some travellers will doubtless see this tragedy – and the unprecendented UK security operation it has precipitated – as another reason not to go to Egypt.

Foreign aid effort

For those of us in the happy position of contemplating another year of travel, what has changed this week? As far as I can see, nothing that should deter you or me from travelling widely and spending freely –the best possible form of foreign aid. Even at a time when the grief of the Russian victims' families is still so raw, there is now a moral imperative to refuse to be cowed by terrorism and to continue to visit the welcoming, beautiful and fascinating nations beyond Europe. If I get to see the Egyptian minister, I will tell him that common humanity is possibly a better hope than an advertising campaign.