UK-Sharm El Sheikh Flights Suspension Extended

The resumption of flights from the UK to Sharm el Sheikh has been delayed amid continuing security concerns in the wake of the downing of a Russian passenger jet.

Thousands of Britons remain stranded in the Egyptian resort following the decision by the UK Government last week.

EasyJet (Other OTC: EJTTF - news) , Monarch, Thomson Airways and Thomas Cook (Xetra: A0MR3W - news) have extended the period for which they have cancelled outbound flights up to and including 25 November.

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

British Airways said it will not operate flights up to 23 November, adding the situation is "under review".

Earlier, a number of travel companies were offering heavily discounted trips to Sharm departing within the next two weeks.

The cheapest package holiday seen by Sky News on the Thomas Cook website was a seven night all-inclusive trip leaving on Saturday, which cost £515 per person instead of £866 - a discount of 41%.

An all-inclusive trip through Thomson was cut by 34% from £731 to £478.

Trips with Monarch could be booked for under £600, and a return flight could be bought on Monarch's website for as little as £218.

Simon Calder, the travel editor of the Independent, told Sky News he expected the airlines to cut back significantly on the number of flights from the UK into Sharm in the near future.

He said Monarch, Thomas Cook, easyJet and Thomson are set to reduce their journeys, while British Airways is set to stop its service to the airport completely.

Calder added he expects the announcements to be made over the next couple of days.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) comes as hundreds of Britons who remain in Sharm try to get on one of the few rescue flights that are being allowed to leave.

Almost 5,300 holidaymakers have returned home since the rescue flights started on Friday, and 1,936 departed on eight flights on Sunday.

At least six flights are expected to operate on Monday.

Tour operators and airlines are expected to cover the costs of extended stays.

Investigators are almost certain a noise picked up by the Metrojet plane's cockpit voice recorder in the final seconds of the flight was the sound of a bomb exploding.

All 224 people on board died when the jet came down in the Sinai Peninsula.