British Airways cancels all flights to Cairo for a week as a security “precaution”

British Airways has cancelled all flights to the Egyptian capital Cairo for a week as a security “precaution”.  

Passengers who were about to board a BA flight to the city from London’s Heathrow Airport were told that it was cancelled and that there would be no alternative flights for a week.  

The airline did not specify what the security issue was but a spokesman for Cairo airport told the BBC that the airport had not been notified by BA of any such changes.  

The flight cancellation comes after the UK Foreign Office updated its advice for Brits travelling to Egypt on Friday, stating there is a ‘heightened risk of terrorism against aviation’. The advice states:

‘Terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Egypt. ‘Although most attacks occur in North Sinai, there is a risk of terrorist attacks across the country. Additional security measures are in place for flights departing from Egypt to the UK’.

A BA spokesman said: ‘we constantly review our security arrangements at all our airports around the world, and have suspended flights to Cairo for seven days as a precaution to allow for further assessment. The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our priority, and we would never operate an aircraft unless it was safe to do so.’