Luxor resumes hot air flights after disaster

Mohammed Ibrahim Sherif, head of the civil aviation authority, said the first hot air balloon was launched in the southern city after safety measures required by his office were implemented. He said five out of seven companies have been allowed to resume flights.

Luxor governor Ezzat Saad, who boarded the first balloon with several British, Australian and Arab tourists, said he was pleased with the resumption, and considers the sport “one of the most important touristic aspects of the city”.

Authorities suspended flights after 19 tourists were killed on February 26 when their balloon caught fire and crashed in a sugar cane field. One British tourist survived, along with the balloon’s pilot. Both were injured. The tourists – from Hong Kong, Japan, Britain, Belgium and France – were travelling on a sunrise flight over Luxor’s dramatic pharaonic sites and desert landscape.