The first direct flight of the EgyptAir airline in 2.5 years has taken off in Cairo and is now headed to Moscow, the Cairo airport said Thursday.

There are more than 100 people on board of the aircraft.

Moscow suspended civilian air traffic to Egypt in October 2015 after a bomb explosion on a Russian plane from Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all 224 people on board.

Russian security services called the incident that killed all 224 on board the St. Petersburg-bound flight an act of terrorism.

On December 15, 2017, Russia and Egypt signed an agreement to resume passenger flights between their capitals, which was supposed to enter into force in February.

Source: Sputnik