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Russian Plane Crash: Thousands More Holidaymakers Return From Sharm El-Sheikh

Thousands More Britons Return From Sharm El-Sheikh
PA
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Thousands more Britons have returned home from Sharm el-Sheikh as airlines delayed the resumption of flights from the UK to the resort amid continuing security concerns at the Egyptian airport.

A total of 2,301 passengers returned on 11 flights from the Red Sea resort, although thousands more Britons remain stranded following the decision to suspend routine air links after a Russian plane crashed.

Investigators are understood to be 90% sure a noise picked up by the cockpit voice recorder in the final seconds of the flight was the sound of an explosion caused by a bomb.

No airlines are taking passengers from the UK directly to Sharm and Monarch, easyJet, Thomson Airways and Thomas Cook Airlines have extended the period for which they have cancelled outbound flights up to and including November 25.

A Monarch spokesman said: "We recognise this is a very frustrating situation and apologise for the inconvenience this is causing our customers."

British Airways (BA) is keeping its flights from Thursday "under review".

The airline is not selling tickets to new customers for flights up to November 23.

Tight security restrictions are limiting the number of services from Sharm to the UK, meaning many passengers are being forced to extend their trip by several days.

Some 7,473 passengers have been brought back to the UK since flights leaving Sharm resumed on Friday.

The 11 flights today consisted of four by Thomson Airways, two each by Thomas Cook Airlines, Monarch and easyJet, as well as one by BA.

Destinations included London Gatwick, Luton, Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh airports.

As thousands of holidaymakers remain stranded, tour operators and airlines are expected to cover the costs of extended stays.

Some tourists returning to the UK described chaotic scenes, with people trampled and hurt as they rushed for planes while swamped security staff carried out only cursory checks.

Others said security at the airport had been ramped up significantly, with armed guards on checkpoints outside the main terminal building and three further security checks inside.

The downed Russian plane - an Airbus 321 - was still gaining altitude as it disintegrated 23 minutes after take-off on October 31, killing all 224 people on board the Metrojet flight.

SEE ALSO:
British Tourists Stranded at Sharm El-Sheikh
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Emma Turner breaks down as she talks to reporters at Gatwick Airport in West Sussex after returning on a flight from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. (credit:Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)
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Emma Turner breaks down as she talks to reporters at Gatwick Airport in West Sussex after returning on a flight from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. (credit:Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)
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Emma Turner breaks down as she talks to reporters at Gatwick Airport in West Sussex after returning on a flight from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. (credit:Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)
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The British Ambassador to Egypt, John Casson, talks to British tourists after the announcement by easyJet staff that there would not be any more flights today to evacuate tourists from Sharm el-Sheikh, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Hundreds of British tourists stranded in the Egyptian resort from where a doomed Russian plane took off last weekend, waited anxiously Friday for flights home as budget carrier easyJet said the Egyptian government had disrupted its plans to fly the Britons out of Sinai. (AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Passengers line up to depart from SSharm el-Sheikh Airport hours after a Russian aircraft carrying 224 people, including 17 children, crashed about 20 minutes after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh, a Red Sea resort popular with Russian tourists, in south Sinai, Egypt, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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British tourists arrive at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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British tourists arrive at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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British tourists arrive at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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British tourists arrive at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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British tourists arrive at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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British tourists arrive at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. Britain moved to repatriate thousands of tourists from Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh after warnings a 'terrorist bomb' may have brought down a Russian jet that took off from the resort, as several nervous airlines scrapped their flights. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMED EL-SHAHED (Photo credit should read MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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British tourists rest at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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British tourists arrive at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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British tourists arrive at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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British tourists arrive at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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British tourists arrive at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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Tourists wait in the departure hall to be evacuated from Sharm el-Sheikh airport, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Agents from the easyJet company give flight information to a passenger waiting to be evacuated from the Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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An employee of EasyJet talks to stranded tourists waiting at the airport to be evacuated from Sharm el-Sheik, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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An employee of EasyJet talks to stranded tourists waiting at the airport to be evacuated from Sharm el-Sheikh, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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British tourists wait in the departure hall to be evacuated from Sharm el-Sheikh airport, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Tourists wait in the departure hall to be evacuated from Sharm el-Sheikh airport, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Egyptian airport security check passenger's luggage as they pass through security in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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Tourists pass through airport security in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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Tourists wait at the airport of Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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Tourists queue at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. Britain moved to repatriate thousands of tourists from Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh after warnings a 'terrorist bomb' may have brought down a Russian jet that took off from the resort, as several nervous airlines scrapped their flights. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMED EL-SHAHED (Photo credit should read MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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Russian tourists queue at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. Egypt is not allowing British airlines to fly extra repatriation flights to bring back holidaymakers from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, the airline easyJet said. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMED EL-SHAHED (Photo credit should read MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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Tourists wait in line at the security gate before the check-in counter at Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Egypt police are carrying out detailed security checks around the airport at Sharm el-Sheikh, the resort from where the doomed Russian plane took off last weekend, after U.K. officials confirmed that flights will start bringing stranded British tourists home from the Sinai Peninsula. (AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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A tourist talks to staff from the British Embassy as other tourists wait in line at the security gate before the check-in counter at Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Egypt police are carrying out detailed security checks around the airport at Sharm el-Sheikh, the resort from where the doomed Russian plane took off last weekend, after U.K. officials confirmed that flights will start bringing stranded British tourists home from the Sinai Peninsula. (AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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British Embassy staff assist in the evacuation of tourists at the Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Egyptian police carried out detailed security checks on Friday at the airport in Sharm el-Sheikh, the resort from where the doomed Russian plane took off last weekend, after U.K. officials confirmed that flights will start bringing stranded British tourists home from the Sinai Peninsula. (AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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British tourist, Mo Phelps, from Andover, England, waits for a wheelchair to assist her in boarding a flight from Sharm el-Sheikh, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Egyptian police carried out detailed security checks on Friday at the airport in Sharm el-Sheikh, the resort from where the doomed Russian plane took off last weekend, after U.K. officials confirmed that flights will start bringing stranded British tourists home from the Sinai Peninsula. (AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Tourists are led by a tour guide as they enter Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport in south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Egyptian police carried out detailed security checks on Friday at the airport in Sharm el-Sheikh, the resort from where the doomed Russian plane took off last weekend, after U.K. officials confirmed that flights will start bringing stranded British tourists home from the Sinai Peninsula. (AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Tourists wait in the departure hall to be evacuated from Sharm el-Sheikh airport, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Egyptian police carried out detailed security checks on Friday at the airport in Sharm el-Sheikh, the resort from where the doomed Russian plane took off last weekend, after U.K. officials confirmed that flights will start bringing stranded British tourists home from the Sinai Peninsula. (AP Photo/ Vinciane Jacquet) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The Stevenson family from Brighton, England, wait in the departure area before boarding an EasyJet flight from Sharm el-Sheikh, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Egyptian police carried out detailed security checks on Friday at the airport in Sharm el-Sheikh, the resort from where the doomed Russian plane took off last weekend, after U.K. officials confirmed that flights will start bringing stranded British tourists home from the Sinai Peninsula. (AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The Stevenson family from Brighton, England, wait in the departure area before boarding an EasyJet flight from Sharm el-Sheikh, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Egyptian police carried out detailed security checks on Friday at the airport in Sharm el-Sheikh, the resort from where the doomed Russian plane took off last weekend, after U.K. officials confirmed that flights will start bringing stranded British tourists home from the Sinai Peninsula. (AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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British tourists wait in line to check in for an EasyJet flight to England, at Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Egyptian police carried out detailed security checks on Friday at the airport in Sharm el-Sheikh, the resort from where the doomed Russian plane took off last weekend, after U.K. officials confirmed that flights will start bringing stranded British tourists home from the Sinai Peninsula. (AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Russian tourists wearing t-shirts with images of Russian President Vladimir Putin pose for a photo in the departure terminal before boarding a flight from Sharm el-Sheikh, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Egyptian police carried out detailed security checks on Friday at the airport in Sharm el-Sheikh, the resort from where the doomed Russian plane took off last weekend, after U.K. officials confirmed that flights will start bringing stranded British tourists home from the Sinai Peninsula. (AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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