17:54

We’re wrapping up our live coverage for today. Here’s a summary of the situation:

About 1,500 British tourists are expected to return to the UK on Saturday from Sharm el-Sheikh after airlines began operating flights from the Egyptian resort on Saturday.

A Thomas Cook flight carrying about 220 people left Sharm about 3pm bound for Gatwick, where it will touch down this evening. A second Thomas Cook flight is also expected to leave for Manchester.

Monarch has two flights, to Bristol and Manchester, while two Thomson planes will also bring holidaymakers back to Manchester tonight.



EasyJet has two flights carrying another 445 passengers due to land at Luton tonight. The company has around 4,000 passengers in Sharm el-Sheikh, of whom 1,000 have been delayed.



British Airways sent an empty plane to Sharm this morning to return holidaymakers to Gatwick.



UK government officials warned that increased safety measures mean many holidaymakers will be forced to stay in Sharm longer than they had hoped.

A Department for Transport spokesman said that the limited number of flights able to leave Sharm el-Sheikh each day for the UK meant that tour operators or airlines were likely to advise some customers to remain at their resort.

“We understand that tour operators and airlines are working to ensure that where people need to extend their stay at their resort necessary costs will be covered,” he said.

“It is important that people stay at their resort until they have confirmation from their airline or tour operator that they are on a flight back to the UK and that they follow their airline’s advice on the appropriate arrival time at the airport.”