The Latest: Egypt pressing for restoration of Sinai flights

State-run news agency MENA reported Thursday that Hisham Zaazou is meeting with British officials in London to persuade them to cancel the decree.

Britain suspended flights to Sinai on Wednesday over suspicions that last weekend's Russian plane crash was caused by a terrorist bombing.

Egypt's vital tourism sector is reeling from years of political unrest following the 2011 toppling of longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has told British Prime Minister David Cameron to wait for the results of an official probe into the Russian plane crash in Egypt, after the British leader said it was "more likely than not" that the crash was caused by a bomb.

McLoughlin told the House of Commons Thursday that British security teams had been sent to Sharm el-Sheikh and "will be working intensively with the Egyptian authorities to allow normal scheduled operations to recommence."

McLoughlin said short-term measures, including different luggage-handing arrangements, would allow the estimated 20,000 British nationals in the Sharm el-Sheikh area to fly home.

British Prime Minister David Cameron also says that the British "don't know for certain that it was a terrorist bomb" that caused the Russian plane crash in Egypt last weekend.

Egypt's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abouzeid says Britain's decision to suspend flights to Sharm el-Sheikh was taken unilaterally without consulting Cairo.

Russia's top aviation official says investigators examining potential causes of the plane crash over Egypt will look for traces of explosives on the wreckage.

Alexander Neradko also called for caution in publicizing speculation about the likely causes of the crash, saying investigators are considering all theories — including a terrorist attack.

Both Russia and Egypt on Thursday dismissed suggestions by Britain and the United States that a bomb was likely to have brought down the Metrojet flight, packed with Ru