UK-based consultancy firm Control Risks has been appointed for six months to assess the security measures at airports in Egypt, a move that comes following the downing of a Russian plane last October.
The consultancy firm will take up the work in a few days.
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Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister Hossam Kamal was quoted by AFP as saying that the global consultancy firm will begin "assessing security procedures at the Sharm el-Sheikh airport from Sunday."
Control Risks specialises in safeguarding organisations in hostile and volatile conditions.
Russian Metrojet’s airplane A-321, which was bound for Saint Petersburg from Sharm el-Sheikh, blew up mid-air minutes later over the Sinai region resulting in the death of 224 passengers and crew on board.
While Russia claims that this was terrorist attack, Eygpt insisted that there was no proof to back this theory.
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By GlobalDataHowever, an Egyptian unit of the Islamic State group had claimed that it had been able to smuggle a bomb on board the Russian plane in order to blow it up.
The jihadist group also stated that it could "compromise security" at the Sharm airport
The US and UK have also been vocal about their concerns regarding the security conditions at Egyptian airports.
According to the Egyptian minister, Control Risks will assess measures to check passengers and baggages, as well as the equipment used by security team at the airport, following which a report will be submitted to the government.
Kamal said the firm will only review the security measures and submit a report to the government. The country’s security teams will be responsible for the implementation of security measures at the airport.
The six-month contract is valued at $700,000, reported AFP.
During the contract period, the British consultancy firm will also assess two other airports – Cairo and Marsa Alam.
Following the incident, Moscow had stopped all its air links with Egypt. The UK too had suspended flights to the country – a move that spelt trouble for Egypt’s tourism sector.
In the last two months of 2015, the country’s tourism sector had lost $280m due to the suspension of flights from these two countries.
