Hand luggage only from Egypt for KLM and UK passengers

Dutch carrier KLM instructed passengers leaving on a flight from the Egyptian capital Cairo that they could only take hand luggage on board.

KLM only taking hand luggage from Egypt. Image by Lord of the Wings© / CC BY-SA 2.0

The measure is “based on national and international information and out of precaution”, according to a statement on the airline’s website.

It follows a similar announcement from the UK, whose tourists are allowed to only take carry-on luggage as they start leaving the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Security officials at the Cairo airport said that flight KL554 left for Amsterdam with only 115 passengers out of the 247 who were booked.

The officials said the remaining passengers refused to leave without taking their check-in bags.

Only hand luggage is being taken on flights leaving Egypt.. Image by Katy Warner / CC BY-SA 2.0

Egyptian police are carrying out detailed security checks around the airport at Sharm el-Sheikh – the resort from where a doomed Russian plane took off last weekend.

Dozens of buses were waiting outside the airport, with the line stretching up to a half a mile as police inspected each vehicle. Most of those onboard are Russian and British tourists.

Britain has said that additional security measures will be in place, including only allowing passengers to carry hand baggage, while checked luggage will be transported separately.

The Metrojet plane crashed 23 minutes after taking off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for St Petersburg last Saturday, with mostly Russians aboard.

Russia and Egypt yesterday dismissed Western suggestions that a terrorist bomb may have caused the crash that killed 224 people, saying the speculation was a rush to judgment.

(Press Association)