The latest on the crash of a Russian plane in Egypt that killed all 224 people onboard last Saturday.
10:05 p.m.
Alitalia says it has suspended freight and mail transport in its aircraft holds as part of new security measures at Cairo airport.
The Rome-based airline said Friday it won't accept luggage traveling without an owner as part of strengthened security at the Egyptian airport. The measures follow the crash of a Russian passenger jet over Egypt on Oct. 31. U.S. and British officials fear a bomb might have blown up the plane in flight.
Alitalia noted that it doesn't operate any scheduled or charter flights to the Sinai peninsula, nor does it fly over the Sinai desert "or any war zones."
9:30 p.m.
Business owners who cater to tourists in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh say the Russian decision to suspend flights to the country may be catastrophic for them.
For 17 years, Ayman Aweiss has been running a cafe on a main drag in the city. On Friday, his cafe was empty. He says every business owner in Sharm el-Sheikh will be forced to leave after a month if there aren't any Russian tourists.
He says that if the situation remains like this "we can't live."
Other businesses in Sharm el-Sheikh, including tour companies and souvenir shops, say 60 to 80 percent of their business comes from Russian tourists. Many of the stores have Russian signage and hawkers call out in Russian to passers-by.
Ramy Roma, who runs a shop selling spices and souvenirs, is concerned but is trying to stay optimistic.
"Maybe it won't be a long time," he said. "Maybe the matter will be over tomorrow. God willing."
Sharm el-Sheikh sprawls along the coast, with resorts lining the blue sea against a harsh desert backdrop. Tourists flock to the built-up, commercialized area for sun, snorkeling, shopping and nightlife.
8:35 p.m.
The U.S. Homeland Security Department has announced a series of new security efforts aimed at international airports in the wake of the crash of a Russian jetliner over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said Friday the newest security efforts will focus on commercial flights bound for the United States from certain overseas airports in the region. He did not say which airports will be affected.
The new security procedures will include expanded security screening of items put on commercial jets, airport assessments and offers of security assistance for certain airports.
Russian carrier Metrojet's Airbus A321-200 crashed shortly after takeoff from the Sharm el-Sheikh airport in Egypt on Saturday, killing all 224 people on board. There are no direct flights from that airport to the U.S.
U.S. and British officials think the plane may have been blown up by a bomb and Britain has grounded all British flights to and from the Sinai Peninsula. On Friday, Russia also announced that it will suspend all flights to Egypt until security is improved at its airports.
8:10 p.m.
France 2 TV is reporting that "the sound of an explosion can be distinctly heard during the flight" according to "an investigator who had access to the black box" of the Metrojet plane that crashed in the Sinai.
France's BEA accident investigation agency said it could not confirm the report. The agency has experts now in Egypt investigating the crash because the Metrojet Airbus A321-200 was made in France.
U.S. and British officials think the plane that crashed Saturday, killing all 224 people aboard, may have been blown up by a bomb.
7:25 p.m.
A retired senior official in Egypt's Tourism Ministry says "airport security procedures in Egypt are almost (all) bad."
Magdy Salim tells The Associated Press that the crash of a Russian airliner in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people onboard, may be a deadly blow to the country's battered tourism sector, which has yet to fully recover after years of political turmoil.
Salim says he understands why people are scared — that's because security measures in Egypt are lax.
He says airport guards regularly skip security checks for friends or co-workers. He says they often don't search people "if they look chic or if they come out of a fancy car."
He noted that a donkey was found wandering around Cairo airport in April. In recent weeks, a stray dog wandered onto a runway and security forces were called in to catch a rogue cat ahead of an inspection by international regulators.
7:10 p.m.
In the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, frustrated tourists are bemoaning conflicting information not only about when they can leave — but also about how to pack.
British businessman James Farrar, who is stuck in a hotel with his partner, says: "We haven't been given information about how we should repack our stuff. We hear there are restrictions on what we can take in your hand luggage as well."
Hundreds of British tourists at the resort had been promised flights home Friday, though only a minority of the flights managed to take off and passengers were only allowed to carry hand luggage onboard.
Farrar said the prospect of being separated for days from most of his belongings was "disconcerting." He said many tourists had little faith in the increased airport security measures after reports surfaced that some managed to jump the queues by bribing security guards.
Security has been tightened because U.S. and British officials fear a bomb might have blown up a Metrojet flight in midair Saturday, killing all 224 people onboard.
6:40 p.m.
Slovenia's national carrier is suspending all flights to the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh following the crash of a Russian jet over Egypt.
Adria Airways said Friday its first scheduled flight to Sharm el-Sheikh on Saturday has been canceled but the company will still be flying to Egypt's other Red Sea resort of Hurgada.
Slovenia's foreign ministry is advising citizens against traveling to Egypt until more is known about the cause of the crash that killed 244 people onboard. It says citizens already in Egypt should stay within the tourist resorts.
A Metrojet flight carrying 224 people crashed in the Sinai Peninsula on Saturday. .U.S. and British officials fear a bomb might have blown up the plane in midair.
6:30 p.m.
Several flights heading to Sharm el-Sheikh to bring back stranded British tourists have turned around in mid-air, and airlines are scaling back the number of flights they plan to operate.
Monarch sent five empty planes from Britain to the Red Sea resort but said only two would return Friday. Two more were on the ground in Sharm el-Sheikh and the fifth was diverted to Larnaca, Cyprus.
Thomas Cook said only one of its four planes due in Sharm el-Sheikh to pick up vacationers was being allowed to land. Flight-tracking websites showed two turning back mid-flight.
The U.K. grounded all flights to and from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Wednesday, saying the Oct. 31 Metrojet crash may have been caused by a bomb.
U.K. airlines planned 29 repatriation flights Friday, but Egypt's civil aviation minister said only eight would operate. Prime Minister David Cameron's office said officials were trying to get people back as quickly as possible but "the sheer scale of the task poses a number of logistical complexities."
6:10 p.m.
Travel agency Thomas Cook says two flights that left the UK heading to Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh airport will not be landing as scheduled.
Thomas Cook representative Mahmoud Ezz has told passengers at the airport that the flights on Friday, which were expected come and then take British tourists back to Manchester and London-Gatwick, are not landing.
Online tracker Flight Radar 24 shows the two planes have turned around in mid-flight.
Ezz tells stranded passengers they are getting accommodations in the Red Sea resort for the night and will be notified about a new flight time.
Approximately 20,000 British tourists are stranded in Sharm el-Sheikh after the U.K. grounded all regular flights to and from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. U.S. and British officials fear a bomb might have blown up a Metrojet flight in midair last Saturday, killing 224 people, mostly Russian tourists leaving the Red Sea resort.
5:55 p.m.
Britain's defense minister has met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in London to discuss working together against common security threats, including the Islamic State group.
Michael Fallon said that as part of the collaboration, Britain will form a small military operations team in Egypt to "better understand" Libyan and regional security issues and how Britain can support Egypt's government.
Britain earlier said it had sent a small team of military personnel to Egypt to assess security arrangements at Sharm el-Sheikh airport, where hundreds of British tourists have been stranded after Britain decided to suspend flights for security reasons.
A Metrojet flight carrying mostly Russian tourists crashed after leaving the airport on Saturday, killing all 224 on board. U.S. and British officials fear a bomb might have blown up the plane in midair.
5:25 p.m.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's halt on flights to Egypt from Russia will affect tens of thousands of Russians and is expected to devastate Egyptian tourism.
Russian officials and tourism experts say there's about 30,000 to 40,000 Russians now in Egypt.
Tourist flights to Egypt leave daily from many Russian cities. There were 14 Egypt-bound flights Friday from Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport and another eight flights to Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh from Moscow's Domodedovo Airport.
The Egyptian economy is deeply dependent on tourism, and the industry was hurting even before the Metrojet crash Saturday that killed 224 people.
Egypt's Tourism Minister Hesham Zazou said in September that tourism at Red Sea beach resorts was rebounding after years of turmoil following the 2011 ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, but otherwise "tourism is suffering tremendously" in Egypt.
5:05 p.m.
President Vladimir Putin's spokesman says the Russian leader's order to suspend all flights to Egypt does not mean that Russia now views terrorism as the main theory behind the Metrojet plane crash.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday "it definitely doesn't mean that. Not a single theory can be given priority, since there aren't any definite indications to prove it."
Peskov says the flight suspension will last as long as it takes Egyptian aviation authorities to put "a proper level of security" into place.
A Metrojet flight carrying mostly Russian tourists crashed over the Sinai Peninsula on Saturday, killing all 224 on board. U.S. and British officials fear a bomb might have blown up the plane in midair.
4:50 p.m.
A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin says all flights to Egypt will be suspended until proper security is in place there.
Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that the suspension will not wait until the results of the probe into Saturday's plane crash is complete. He says it will last as long as it takes Egyptian authorities to put "a proper level of security" into place.
Peskov would not say what these securities measures should be but said the Russian government will hammer out the details together with the Egyptians.
A Metrojet flight carrying mostly Russian tourists crashed over the Sinai Peninsula on Saturday, killing all 224 on board. U.S. and British officials fear a bomb might have blown up the plane in midair.
4:20 p.m.
Russian experts have brought plane wreckage samples to Moscow from Egypt to study for possible traces of explosives.
Russian news agencies on Friday quoted Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Puchkov as saying that experts are sure to find a trace of explosives on the samples if it was a bomb that brought down the Metrojet flight on Saturday.
The Metrojet flying from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to Russia's St. Petersburg crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 onboard.
U.S. and British officials fear a bomb might have blown up the plane in midair while Russian officials say they are looking into all theories of why the plane crashed.
4:10 p.m.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a halt to all Russian flights to Egypt and told authorities to repatriate Russians in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh pending an investigation into Saturday's plane crash in the Sinai.
Putin on Friday promptly reacted to a suggestion by the Russian intelligence chief, who said it was "reasonable" to halt the flights. Neither Putin nor Alexander Bortnikov offered the timeline for the suspension or the repatriation.
All 224 people aboard the Oct. 31 Metrojet flight from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg were killed, and U.S. and British officials fear a bomb might have blown up the plane in midair.
4 p.m.
Aviation experts say British authorities are making travelers leave most of their luggage behind when leaving the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh so that it can be intensively searched before being put on an aircraft.
The U.K. has grounded all flights to and from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, saying there was a "significant possibility" a Russian airliner that crashed Saturday was downed by a bomb. All 224 people on the plane were killed.
Britain has not disclosed details about its intelligence, but speculation has focused on a bomb in the hold.
Analyst Paul Beaver said passengers are being told to travel with carry-on luggage only so there can be "the most thorough search" of their luggage by British security officials who have been sent to Sharm el-Sheikh. He said any checked bags would be flown back separately, probably on Royal Air Force jets.
David Learmount, editor of Flightglobal magazine, told Sky News that "not taking any luggage in the bag hold means the underfloor luggage compartment can be sealed, so that nobody can get into it."
3:45 p.m.
The head of the Russian intelligence agency FSB says it would be "reasonable" to suspend all Russian flights to Egypt pending the results of a probe into the cause of Saturday's crash of a Russian plane in the Sinai Peninsula.
Russian news agencies on Friday quoted Alexander Bortnikov as saying that investigators should take their time in establishing the cause of the crash. Bortnikov did not provide a timeline for the suggested suspension of flights but said it should cover all tourist flights.
All 224 people aboard the Oct. 31 Metrojet flight from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg were killed, and U.S. and British officials fear a bomb might have blown up the plane in midair.
3:30 p.m.
Budget airline easyJet says two flights have taken off from Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh airport and are en route to London, carrying 359 vacationers who had been stranded at the Red Sea resort after British authorities grounded flights.
The airline says one flight is headed to London's Gatwick airport with 180 passengers and another with 179 passengers is bound for London's Luton airport.
EasyJet had originally planned seven other flights to London on Friday and one to Milan, but says those have been cancelled. The airline says it is paying for hotels and additional expenses for its stranded customers.
The U.K. grounded all flights to and from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Wednesday, saying there was a "significant possibility" a Russian airliner that crashed Oct. 31 was downed by a bomb.
2:30 p.m.
Egypt's civil aviation minister says Sharm el-Sheikh airport will operate eight flights to the U.K. Friday, instead of the 29 flights planned earlier.
Hossam Kamal says in an e-mailed statement that British airlines are flying without passengers' luggage, while the airport isn't able to hold more than 120 tons of luggage left behind.
"This big volume will affect the smooth operation of the rest of the domestic and international flights," says Kamal, adding that a cargo plane is planned to carry the baggage of departing passengers the same day of the departure.
"Egypt fully cooperates with the British side in the light of the resources of the airport and in accordance with international security regulations," says the minister.
2:10 p.m.
Britain's government says it is urgently working with Egyptian authorities to make sure planned flights leave the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Anger and confusion reigned Friday at the Sharm el-Sheikh airport after British airline easyJet said Egyptian authorities were disrupting plans to fly hundreds of British tourists back home. Exasperated tourists heckled the British ambassador, demanding to know when they would be flown out.
The ambassador is denying that Egypt is blocking the flights.
The British Department for Transport says travelers should not leave for the Sharm el-Sheikh airport unless they have a confirmed flight and asks for "people's patience at this difficult time."
The U.K. grounded all flights to and from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Wednesday, saying there was a "significant possibility" a Russian airliner that crashed Oct. 31 was downed by a bomb.
1:55 p.m.
Belgium is advising its nationals not to travel to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, until the reasons for the crash of a Russian airliner that took off from the Red City resort are determined.
All 224 people aboard the Oct. 31 Metrojet flight to St. Petersburg were killed, and U.S. and British officials fear a bomb might have blown up the plane in midair. Russian and Egyptian officials say it's too early to know that.
A travel advisory Friday on the Belgian Foreign Ministry website recommended "heightened vigilance" for anyone traveling in Egypt. It says "terrorist acts are regularly committed throughout the territory, chiefly against police and military targets, but they can also affect civilians."
It also recommended against travel in Egyptian border areas close to Libya and Sudan and in the northern Sinai Peninsula.
1:40 p.m.
Exasperated British tourists who have waited for hours at the Sharm el-Sheikh airport are heckling U.K. Ambassador John Casson after reports of more flight delays and cancellations.
One irate tourist at the Red Sea resort shouted: "When are we going home?"
Casson says "our aim is to get as many people home as soon as possible" adding there would be more flights out Friday.
Britain has blocked flights to the Red Sea resort amid fears, shared by the U.S., that a bomb brought down a Metrojet carrying 224 people out of Sharm el-Sheikh on Oct. 31. Russia and Egypt say it's too soon to say that.
Casson says Egyptian authorities are not blocking flights from taking the tourists home, as easyJet was claiming.
He told tourists British authorities "will continue to work until we have everybody home. There are challenging, difficult issues to work through, this is a busy airport and we need to make sure people leave in a way that is safe."
1:20 p.m.
Air France is stepping up security checks in Cairo and France is warning its citizens to limit travel around Egypt after a Russian jet crashed in the Sinai Peninsula amid fears it was downed by a bomb.
France's Foreign Ministry on Friday urged its citizens to avoid Sharm el-Sheikh, Taba and surrounding areas in Sinai unless they have an "imperative reason" to go.
France also toughened its travel warning for Egypt on Thursday. It strongly urges French travelers to avoid the rest of Sinai, avoid the Nile Delta unless necessary, and use vigilance around Cairo and some other Egyptian cities.
Air France said Friday it is reinforcing screening procedures in Cairo. Air France partner company KLM announced Friday it is only accepting hand luggage on flights from Cairo, but Air France says it is still accepting checked-in luggage.
The Metrojet crash Saturday killed 224 people, mostly Russian tourists.
12:40 p.m.
The Dutch foreign minister says his government's decision to issue a negative travel advisory this week for Sharm el-Sheikh airport was linked to lax security.
Minister Bert Koenders told reporters Friday in The Hague: "We have the impression that there are insufficient security measures there."
He stressed the advisory did not cover the whole of Egypt.
Dutch travel companies are preparing to repatriate tourists vacationing at the Egyptian Red Sea resort, the takeoff point for a Metrojet plane that crashed into the Sinai desert on Oct. 31. All 224 people aboard were killed, and U.S. and British officials fear a bomb might have blown up the plane in midair.
Laura Water, a spokeswoman for travel company TUI, says it has cancelled flights on Sunday and Tuesday from Amsterdam to Sharm el-Sheikh and will fly empty planes to the resort to pick up just under 200 of its customers. Returning passengers will only be allowed to take hand luggage on board.
12:10 p.m.
British airline easyJet says its plans to fly hundreds of stranded Britons back from the Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheikh have been disrupted by Egyptian authorities.
The budget carrier had been due to operate 10 flights from the Red Sea resort on Friday, but said eight would not be able to operate because Egypt had suspended British flights from flying into the airport.
Monarch and British Airways said they still planned to operate flights back from Sinai on Friday.
The U.K. grounded all flights to and from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Wednesday, saying there was a "significant possibility" a Russian airliner that crashed Saturday, killing 224 people, was downed by a bomb.
11:50 a.m.
A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow is outraged at a cartoon in the French weekly Charlie Hebdo mocking the Russian plane crash in Egypt.
Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that Moscow views the cartoon as "blasphemy."
It's one of dozens of cartoons in this week's edition of Charlie Hebdo, which has been beset by tensions this year over whether there should be limits, after 12 people were killed at the magazine's offices by Islamic extremists over the paper's publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.
The small cartoon appears on the magazine's back page and shows plane parts and a passenger falling from the sky onto a bearded, armed man in what appears to be an Islamic robe.
The commentary reads: Islamic State: Russian aviation intensifies its bombardments.
Russians have been bombing Islamic State targets in Syria since end of September.
Lawmakers at the Russian State Duma voiced their outrage as well, calling on the government to blacklist the French publication as extremist literature and insisting that the French authorities react and apologize.
11:20 a.m.
In the Netherlands, a KLM spokeswoman would not elaborate on the Dutch carrier's decision to only allow passengers to take hand luggage on board a plane that left Cairo airport on Friday.
Gedi Schrijver repeated a KLM statement that it was a precautionary measure based on "national and international information."
She said that "the airport in Cairo is good, because we can fly there without restrictions, but loading baggage in the hold via Cairo airport we have decided not to do that based on the information."
She would not give any more details about the source of the information that led to the decision.
KLM has no direct flights to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, from where the doomed Russian plane took off last Saturday.
9:40 a.m.
Dutch carrier KLM has instructed its passengers leaving from the Egyptian capital of Cairo that they can only take hand luggage on board the plane departing Friday.
A statement on KLM's website says the measure is "based on national and international information and out of precaution."
It follows a similar announcement from Britain, 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 told The Associated Press that flight KL554 left for Amsterdam on Friday morning with only 115 passengers out of the 247 who were booked.
The officials say the remaining passengers refused to leave without taking their check-in bags. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
—Maamoun Youssef in Cairo.
9:10 am
Egyptian police are carrying out detailed security checks around the airport at Sharm el-Sheikh — the resort from where the doomed Russian plane took off last weekend — after U.K. officials confirmed that flights will start bringing stranded British tourists home from the Sinai Peninsula.
Dozens of busses are waiting outside the airport on Friday morning, with the line stretching up to a kilometer (half mile) as police inspect 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 on Thursday dismissed Western suggestions that a terrorist bomb may have caused the crash that killed 224 people, saying the speculation was a rush to judgment.
