There were angry scenes in Sharm el-Sheikh, as thousands of anxious Britons, who had also hoped to fly home, were sent back to their hotels after Egypt blocked several other repatriation flights.
"I think a lot of people will question whether they ever want to go to Egypt again," Emma Turner, a 34-year-old from southeast England, said after arriving back in London.
Thomson flight with 189 passengers on board had to avoid a military missile when landing at Sharm el-Sheikh airport just over two months ago, as it emerges US intercepted 'intelligence chatter' of Isil jihadis 'celebrating' downed Russian jet
Those who did get home were withering about the organization of their repatriation back in Egypt.
“Absolute shambles, it is mayhem there,” a tourist said.
Passengers returning home from Sharm el-Sheikh are painting a horrendous picture of the security – or lack of it – at the airport.
Ben Khosravi, 27, who was on another easyJet flight which landed at London Luton, described screening process.
Quote The security at Sharm was horrendous - we had friends with lighters in their pockets, people were patting you down but not asking you to get anything out, bottles of water being passed through.
It was quite worrying how easy you could get through - you could pay people money to fast track it."
Money changed hands at Sharm el-Sheikh airport.
A rather alarming tweet appearing to show money changing hands at Sharm el-Sheikh airport as tourists are desperate to get home.
A British jet packed with holidaymakers had to “evade” an Egyptian missile in what the Department for Transport described as an incident just over two months ago.
According to one report, the missile came within 1,000 feet of a Thomson flight with 189 passengers on board.
Thomson said the incident was not a cause for concern, while the DfT said the flight was not the victim of a terrorist attack, adding that the incident was probably connected to routine exercises being carried out by the Egyptian military.
A Thomson plane is reprted to have come ?within 1,000ft? of a rocket as it approached Sharm El Sheikh
But given there are strict protocols designed to keep civilian aircraft away from such military exercises, it remained unclear how the Thomson flight found itself in that position.
Details of what appears to have been a near miss emerged as evidence mounted that the Russian Metrojet flight was brought down by a bomb.
Analysis of information on the flight data recorder – or black box – revealed there was an explosion 24 minutes into the flight.
Intelligence had provided further evidence that terrorists were responsible for the Metrojet crash which killed 224 people.
What was described as “chatter” between Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) leaders in Raqqa, Syria and jihadists in the Sinai Peninsula included a boast that they had taken down the aircraft.
Meanwhile in Sharm el-Sheikh, progress in bringing back British tourists was slow, with only eight of the 29 evacuation flights being allowed to land.
John Casson, Britain’s ambassador to Egypt, bore much of the frustration and anger voiced by UK holidaymakers who had been trapped at the Red Sea resort.
Those who did get back spoke of chaotic scenes at Sharm el-Sheikh airport with some claiming that they had to pay bribes to avoid lengthy security queues.
More flights are due to arrive on Saturday to continue the evacuation of around 20,000 British tourists who have been trapped at Sharm el-Sheikh.
British tourists face continued frustration at Sharm el-Sheikh.
There were angry scenes in Sharm el-Sheikh, as thousands of anxious Britons, who had also hoped to fly home, were sent back to their hotels after Egypt blocked several other repatriation flights.
"I think a lot of people will question whether they ever want to go to Egypt again," Emma Turner, a 34-year-old from southeast England, said after arriving back in London.
Those who did get home were withering about the organization of their repatriation back in Egypt.
“Absolute shambles, it is mayhem there,” one tourist said
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