Egypt was high on a UK list of Middle East countries whose airports were regarded as a cause for concern even before the Russian plane crash, according to British security sources.



The UK first raised worries with the Egyptians 10 months ago about Sharm el-Sheikh airport. In spite of some improvements after that, screening and other security measures were still regarded as lax.

This assessment, when combined with intelligence hinting that a bomb had been placed on the plane, tipped the balance in the UK’s decision on Wednesday to suspend all flights to the resort.

David Cameron on Thursday told the BBC: “We don’t know for certain it was a terrorist bomb. The reason we’ve acted is because of intelligence and information that we’ve had that it was more likely than not that it was a terrorist bomb.”

A fresh assessment of security procedures at Sharm airport by two aviation security experts from the UK’s Department for Transport, who flew in on Wednesday, prompted the experts to advise the Foreign Office and Downing Street to delay flights.

Russia has described British speculation about a bomb as premature. But Germany’s Lufthansa, along with many other airlines, followed the UK lead on Thursday in banning flights to Sharm.

The Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi said on a visit to London on Thursday that a British security team had visited Sharm 10 months ago and decreed the system was fine. But the Guardian has learned that UK officials and operators had raised concerns about the airport on several recent occasions.

British security staff regularly visit countries in the Middle East pressing them to improve security, and while all airports in the Middle East outside of Israel fall well short of US and UK standards, Egypt, Bahrain and Kuwait top the UK list of concern.

Although only flights to Sharm have been suspended, there is worry about Egyptian airports in general over alleged lax screening amid heightened fears over terrorism, a security source said.

Hundreds of stranded British passengers converged on the airport at Sharm on Thursday. The Foreign Office announced it would be increasing the size of the team in the resort to 35, including aviation security officials, a small military team and consular staff.



British aviation security experts sent to Sharm after the crash have begun monitoring passenger and luggage screening at the resort.

According to one employee at the airport, the UK sent an aviation security specialist a year ago and then requested tightened procedures. Asked what he thought the problem was an official at the airport said: “The system was the problem. The British complained then that they weren’t checking people enough. We should have done more. The security could have been improved by putting another scanner outside and updating the others.”

British officials are concerned that security measures could still be bypassed, despite the presence of scanners at several stages in the check-in process.

A Downing Street spokeswoman did not deny that there had been concern about screening of luggage 10 months ago but refused to elaborate on what exactly the UK had requested in terms of improvements.

A British source said there had been alarm after a passenger described how a VIP fixer had secured a speedy passage through security. He added that while the necessary screening equipment had been in place, staff allegedly have not always used it.

There was increased security at Sharm airport on Thursday.

The foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, told Sky News the British security assessment was based on “all the information available”, some of it “sensitive”.

A spokesman for the British embassy in Cairo said: “This is a precautionary measure. After the crash of the Russian airline on Saturday we have become increasingly concerned that it might have been an explosive device. Because of that we have deployed a team of UK aviation experts and after an assessment it was decided to delay UK-bound flights. This is to ensure the safety of British citizens.”

Cameron made a 10-minute phonecall to Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, on Thursday to explain why Britain had acted unilaterally to halt the flights.

Asked whether Putin had expressed any criticism of British actions, Downing Street said: “The president underlined that all countries should wait for the investigations to be completed. The PM was very clear that he would be driven by what would be right for the safety of British citizens and we were right to take the actions that we did.”

Britain’s national security adviser has been in touch with his Russian counterpart, but Russian news agencies reported a spokeswoman in the foreign affairs ministry saying the UK had not handed over any new intelligence information. “If they have information and they are not presenting it, that is shocking,” she added.

British intelligence agencies as a matter of routine share information with the US and close European allies but tend not to share with the Russians.

As soon as the Foreign Office was informed about the concerns about security at Sharm el-Sheikh, it had an obligation to inform the public.

Several airlines, including Monarch and easyJet, have said they are hoping to resume flights from the resort to the UK on Friday, but Downing Street said it could not put a timetable on when air travel to Sharm would be allowed to resume.