Russians consider that Russian authorities have taken the right decision to stop flights to Egypt, however, they believe that this decision should be temporary.

MOSCOW, November 23, 2015. Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) presents the data of the survey describing the Russian attitudes towards the decision of the Russian authorities to ban flights to Egypt.

Ban on flights to Egypt imposed by the Ministry of Transport after the Russian plane crash over Sinai is supported by three-quarter of Russians (76%). Most of them are retired persons (84%) and residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg (84%).

As the Medialogia analysis suggests, more than 15 thousand references related to the “ban on flights to Egypt” were found in the Russian media in November 2015. The media reported that Vladimir Putin, following the recommendations of the National anti-terrorism committee and Aleksandr Bortnikov, the director of the Federal Security Service, agreed to suspend all passenger flights to Egypt.

Remarkably, 12 % of Russians plan to spend vacations in Egypt (including 2% of those who would like to go there next year); however, even this group of respondents largely approve of the decision of the Russian authorities (60%). Sixteen percent of Russians oppose them. This share makes up 24% among those who have visited Egypt (12%, sample mean) and 35% among those who plan to go to the Red Sea. According to the Federal Tourism Agency, Egypt has become the top one destination of Russian tourists in the first six months of 2015 (1054 thousand trips).

Simultaneously, most of Russians (74%) say that the ban should be temporary and not permanent. The ban can be cancelled given that the war in Syria is over, the ISIL terrorists are destroyed (31%) and a high security level is ensured (30%). Those who share this point of view are mainly young respondents (80-79% and those aged 18-34), those with high level of education (78%) and active Internet users (78%) rather than retired persons (68% of those aged over 60), respondents with elementary level of education (58%) and those who use the Internet very rarely  (67%). Sixteen percent of respondents think that the decision to stop flights to Egypt should not be revised (29% of residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg).

The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted November 14-15, 2015; 1600 respondents were interviewed in 130 settlements in 46 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.5%. Monitoring and analysis of the Russian media publications were carried out by the Medialogia Company using approximately 28 400 sources such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines, information agencies and online media. Research period: November 2015.

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