Sadly yet again Egypt makes the news for all the wrong reasons. The tragic balloon accident at Luxor this morning which is reported to have claimed the lives of at least 19 foreign tourists including some British will do the Egyptian tourism industry and especially Luxor no good.
There have been previous balloon accidents, notably in 2009 when one crashed into a telephone mast injuring many of the passengers but none fatally. This then prompted a huge number of new regulations, increased training for the pilots and then finally new restrictions and guidelines introduced before flights could resume including a balloon airport and limiting the number of balloons in the air at the same time.
The balloon flights have proved a very popular excursion trip for tourist even allowing for the the very early start, generally around 0500 with the balloons taking off from 0600, however most if not all UK tour operators do not sell them directly, Atp Travel included, partly due to insurance restrictions and partly as the local Egyptian tour operators like to sell these locally as it is a main source of income for them.
It is very hard to see how the balloon excursions can carry on or that any tourists would feel safe taking one or that their insurance would infact cover them for the trip.
However at this time our thoughts are with those who have lost loved ones
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