British Airways on Friday suspended for one week all scheduled flights to Cairo.
The airway said the cancellations are due to a security precaution, but did not elaborate on the concerns.
According to The Guardian, the announcement came as a surprise, told to passengers about to board a British Airways flight.
In a statement, the airline said: "We constantly review our security arrangements at all our airports around the world, and have suspended flights to Cairo for seven days as a precaution to allow for further assessment. The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our priority, and we would never operate an aircraft unless it was safe to do so."
A spokesperson for the airline declined to provide further information about the suspensions, saying the company did not comment on security matters, The Independent noted.
According to BBC, German media has reported that Lufthansa flights to Cairo have also been canceled.
Meanwhile Reuters quoted Egyptian officials who said Cairo's international airport was told that the suspension was for two days and only affected London flights. According to airport officials, the decision followed routine security checks earlier in the week.
Cairo Airport Company Chairman Ahmed Fawzi told Egypt's Al Shorouk that the airline did not inform them of any security concerns, and that the Cairo airport had not been notified of the decision. According to him, the cancellation is due to "an internal affair inside the company."
Egypt's Al Masry Al Youm said Egypt's civil aviation ministry noted a series of expected strikes at Heathrow Airport and emphasized that the suspension was only for one week, and that the decision was due to "security and political measures that are concerned with internal affairs, and not those of Egypt." The ministry also said that Cairo, as well as Egypt's Hurghada airport, received "excellent" security ratings in the recent UK security check, and that other airlines were operating as usual.
A spokesman for the British government said: "We are aware that British Airways is notifying passengers it has decided to suspend flights to Cairo temporarily."