UPDATE - British Airways suspends flights to Egyptian capital

UPDATES WITH STATEMENT FROM CAIRO AIRPORT AUTHORITIES

By Hasan Esen, Hussein Mahmoud Ragab Elkabany and Hamdi Yildiz

LONDON/CAIRO (AA) - The British Airways on Saturday suspended flights to Egypt’s capital for a week over security concerns, the airline said in a statement.

“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,” it told the passengers of a Cairo-bound flight, stating that the flight had been cancelled.

The statement did not disclose the security risk causing the cancellation of the flights, but said the safety of their customers comes first.

One of the passengers said the flight was cancelled when they were about to start boarding.

On Friday, the British Foreign Office warned people of “heightened risk of terrorism against aviation,” and said additional security measures had been taken for the flights from Egypt.

- Egypt's response

Cairo International Airport administration called the British airline’s decision an “internal matter”, according to the Egyptian daily Al-Shorouk.

Ahmed Fevzi, head of Cairo Airport Company, said they have not received any notification from the British Airways over their flights suspension to Cairo, the local daily reported.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry said the suspension decision was not issued neither by the U.K.’s Foreign Office nor by the Department for Transport.

Germany’s leading airline Lufthansa also announced Saturday its suspension of Cairo flights over the safety concerns.

*Writing by Sena Guler and Burak Bir