Egypt signed on Wednesday an agreement with the UK-based Control Risks firm to evaluate Egyptian airports over two stages, state news agency MENA reported.
During the first phase, the global independent consultancy company will be tasked with the evaluation of three airports –Cairo, Sharm El-Sheikh and Marsa Alam -- at an approximate cost of $700,000, MENA reported citing Aviation Minister Hossam Kamal.
According to the minister, the finance will be provided by Egypt's tourism support fund; an investment fund was launched in 2014 that aimed to raise $1 billion from local and Arab Gulf investors to improve the ailing sector.
The contract with Control Risks comes following a Russian plane crash in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula last October that killed all 224 people on board. The Islamist militant group IS claimed that it downed the plane.
Egypt has not yet released its final report concerning the downing of the plane with the government saying last December that its "technical investigative committee has so far not received any evidence indicating criminal or terrorist activity."
