Iran has attacked Israel with drones and missiles. This also unsettles holidaymakers who have planned a trip to neighboring Egypt.
Various military conflicts around Egypt are causing problems for the local tourism industry. It started in October last year when Hamas attacked Israel and continued with the Houthi rebels' attacks on ships in the Red Sea. Now Iran's attack on Israel is causing further uncertainty among travelers. How safe is a vacation in Egypt right now? And can a planned trip still be canceled free of charge?
Partial travel warnings for Egypt
According to the Foreign Office, the security situation in Egypt “remains stable and calm”. However, there is a partial travel warning for certain areas of the country. For example, there is a warning against traveling to the north of the Sinai Peninsula, the North Sinai Governorate and the Egyptian-Israeli border area - with the exception of the immediate coastal section and the border town of Taba. Military operations are said to have taken place there due to terrorist attacks in the past. There is a state of emergency in the North Sinai Governorate, which also includes nighttime curfews. The road from Suez to Taba is closed to non-military vehicles.
There are also warnings against traveling to the neighboring Gaza Strip. The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip is only open to a limited number of people at irregular intervals. In addition, caution is also advised in popular tourist areas: The Foreign Office advises against unaccompanied, individual excursions and overland trips in the south of the Sinai Peninsula - these include the coastal towns of Sharm el-Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba and Taba on the Red Sea. Anyone who wants to go on diving and snorkeling tours, mountain hikes or trips to the desert should only do so with a licensed local companion.
A further travel warning is in place for remote areas of the Sahara, including the border areas with Libya and Sudan. These have been declared restricted areas and travel there is prohibited.
Is air traffic to Egypt operating normally?
After Iran's attack on Israel, neighboring countries Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq closed air traffic. However, the airspace over Egypt remains open for the time being, as the German Press Agency (dpa) learned from circles at Cairo Airport. Only the Egyptian state airline Egyptair announced that it would suspend flights to and from Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon until further notice. Air traffic to and from Germany is not restricted.
Can trips to Egypt be canceled free of charge due to the current situation?
As early as the Easter holidays in 2024, the travel search engine
Kayak
found that flights to Egypt had become 16 percent cheaper than in the previous year. Package holidays to the popular holiday region of Hurghada are also six percent cheaper in summer, as the booking portal
HolidayCheck
informs. It can therefore be assumed that the Middle East conflict has had an impact on demand for trips to Egypt.
However, the current situation in Israel has not led to organizers canceling their trips or airlines canceling their flights. Anyone who would still prefer to withdraw from their holiday due to uncertainty or fear can generally do so at any time - although the organizer is then entitled to compensation.
It is only possible to withdraw from a trip free of charge if there are “unavoidable, exceptional circumstances” during the travel period, as the consumer advice center informs. This is not necessarily the case in Egypt. The Foreign Office has not issued a travel warning for the holiday areas, says Karolina Wojtal from the European Consumer Center according to the online portal
Reisereporter
. Anyone who would like to withdraw from the travel contract due to fear of the current situation or a general threat of terrorism must hope for the tour operator's goodwill. This applies even more to individual travelers who have booked their flights and hotel separately. Travel law does not apply here, as it does with package tours, says Wojtal.