SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt—Hundreds of British tourists stranded in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, from where the doomed Russian plane took off last weekend, waited anxiously Friday for flights home as budget carrier easyJet said the Egyptian government had disrupted its plans to fly the Britons out of Sinai.
Britain had grounded all flights to and from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Wednesday, saying there was a “significant possibility” the Russian airliner that crashed last Saturday, killing 224 people, was downed by a bomb.
The Metrojet’s Airbus A321-200 crashed 23 minutes after takeoff from Sharm el-Sheikh en route to St. Petersburg, with mostly Russian tourists aboard.
U.K. authorities had approved flights back, starting Friday. EasyJet had been due to operate 10 flights from the Red Sea resort but said eight would not be able to fly because Egypt had suspended British flights from flying into the airport.
“We are working with the U.K. government at the highest level on a solution,” easyJet said in a statement.
There was no explanation from Cairo on what had caused the disruption. Two other carriers, Monarch and British Airways, said they still planned to operate flights back from Sinai on Friday.
The surprise disruption is likely to hinder Britain’s attempts to bring back the estimated 20,000 U.K. nationals in Sharm el-Sheikh. Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said earlier Friday that “most of the people who were expecting to be home by tonight will be home by tonight.”
On the ground in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egyptian police carried out expanded security checks Friday. Dozens of busses waited outside the airport, the line stretching up to a kilometer (half mile) as police inspected each vehicle, ferrying mostly Russian and British tourists to the airport.
Russia and Egypt have dismissed Western suggestions that a bomb may have caused the crash, saying the speculation was a rush to judgment and insisting the investigation must run its course. The United States and British leaders have stopped short of a categorical assignment of blame in the crash, but Prime Minister David Cameron said Thursday it was “more likely than not” that the cause was a bomb.
The crash prompted companies to ground flights from and to the Red Sea resort, stranding thousands of tourists this week.
Britain has said that additional security measures would be in place, including only allowing passengers to carry hand baggage, while checked luggage will be transported separately. The carry-on measure applies only to those departing from Sharm el-Sheikh, British officials said.
Inside the crowded airport, British tourists said they were just anxious to get home.
“We were in the first flights that were cancelled Wednesday night, we were already queuing to board,” said Amy Johnson, a 27-year-old British administrative assistant hoping to catch one of Friday’s EasyJet flights out of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Standing in a crush of hundreds waiting to pass through security, Johnson said she didn’t feel that British authorities have adequately supported the stranded tourists. “We’re being left to deal with this ourselves.”
