CAIRO, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- The commercial flights between Egypt and the United States will resume since January 2019 after more than three years of suspension, official MENA news agency quoted a U.S. official as saying on Tuesday.

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen made the remarks in a meeting with Egypt's Civil Aviation Minister Younis al-Masry on Tuesday, after she lauded the security measures taken at Egyptian airports over the past few years.

Washington suspended cargo flights coming from Egypt in November 2015, a few days after a Russian plane crash in late October 2015 in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula killed all the 224 people on board and Russian investigations proved it was done by a bomb hidden inside the plane.

The crash was later claimed by the Islamic State (IS) regional extremist group.

The two ministers also tackled a number of issues of mutual concern regarding air transport industry, and agreed to develop a relevant memorandum of understanding signed between Cairo and Washington in 1997.

Masry described Egypt's relations with the United States as "close and strategic," while Nielsen called for continuing bilateral coordination and cooperation to confront challenges facing air transport industry all over the world. Enditem

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