Italy will operate 11 direct flights to Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh amid efforts by Cairo to revive tourism in the city, which declined over the past year after the crash of a Russian airliner over Sinai in 2015.
The move comes as part of Egypt's efforts to promote tourism in South Sinai and the Red Sea governorate and increase the number of Italian tourists visiting the country, Egyptian ambassador in Rome Amr Helmy said.
Following talks with leading Italian tourism investors, Cairo and Rome agreed to run the 11 trips from a number of Italian cities including Naples, Palermo and Pisa starting October, Helmy was quoted as saying by state news agency MENA.
Sharm El-Sheikh, a popular tourist destination, suffered a sharp decline in tourism after several countries banned flights to the city over security concerns after the October 2015 crash of the Russian passenger jet.
The crash, which occurred in Sinai as the flight was en route from Sharm El-Sheikh to Russia, killed all 224 people on board.
Italians are among the top European tourists to visit Egypt, with over 400,000 Italians visiting the country in 2013.
Russian, British and Italian tourists make up more than 50 percent of the total number of tourists to Egypt.
