Sharm el Sheikh airport at full capacity

A spokesperson for Egypt’s ministry of tourism said 4,300 passengers are making their way through the airport each hour as the UK operates 10 to 11 passenger flights per day.

The Russians are operating as many as 25 per day as both countries bring holidaymakers home in the wake of the believed bombing of the Metrojet flight at the end of October, killing all 224 on board.

It is hoped that with the current rate of flights passing through the airport, the backlog of passengers will be cleared within the next four days.

The spokesperson said: “We are working closely with our airport operators, airlines, holiday companies and the relevant international authorities to assist all tourists who are currently waiting to return home to the UK and Russia from Sharm el Sheikh to do so.

“We are endeavouring to process as many people as possible through the airport as safely and quickly as we can.

“We will continue to ensure that we are doing everything possible to assist tourists as they wait.”