Egypt is losing ground against Russia on the return of flights because it’s not playing its cards right

Egypt is losing ground against Russia on the return of flights because it’s not playing its cards right, Gamal Taha writes in a column penned for El Watan.Rather than focusing on the Russian government’s conditions to bring back flights from Moscow, Egypt should rest assured that its attractiveness and affordability will bring them back. Many Russian tourists have been bypassing the flight ban since 2016, Taha says, and yet Russia continues to place the return of its nationals over Egypt’s head to force its demands on the country: The USD 30 bn Daba’a nuclear power plant, a new Russian industrial zone, a gold exploration tender in Sinai, wheat imports from Moscow, and (so far) more than USD 800 mn in airport security upgrades.