Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect on travellers with bookings to (a) Sharm el Sheikh and (b) other destinations in the Middle East of the period within which the right to penalty-free cancellation can be ascertained being within 14 days of travel.

On 4 November 2015, we amended our Travel Advice to advise against all but essential travel by air to Sharm el-Sheikh. We have not changed our Travel Advice for the resort itself.

The FCO Travel Advice, available at www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, provides objective information and advice to help individuals make better-informed decisions about their travel. The Egypt page has been regularly updated to reflect developing events since the crash of the Russian airliner on 31 October. We regularly review our Travel Advice and all changes are made after careful analysis. Our only consideration is the safety of British Nationals.

The FCO is working with DfT and Egyptian counterparts to put in place permanent and sustainable measures to allow British flights to Sharm el-Sheikh to resume as soon as possible.

Refunds and cancellation penalties are a matter for the airlines. We are liaising closely with airlines to share information about the progress of our discussions with Egypt.