Egypt airport official: Planes arriving near empty

The chairman of the Egyptian Airports Co. said on Monday some flights are arriving nearly empty to Egypt and that passenger traffic in the past week has fallen by half. Chairman Gad el-Karim Nasr said in a statement that arrivals to the Red Sea resort cities of Sharm el-Sheik and Hurghada over the past seven days have experienced much of the decline. Due to the country’s violent turmoil, some flights that can carry more than 100 passengers from Europe arrive with just nine and return full from beach resorts. Nasr said Egypt will likely see an even steeper decline in the number of visitors by next month. A number of airlines have cancelled their flights entirely, but Nasr did not disclose how many.