CAIRO – An Egyptian government official says Egypt has lost hundreds of millions of dollars since last year’s suspected bombing of a Russian plane, which crippled the country’s vital tourism industry.

South Sinai Governor Khaled Fouda was quoted by the state-run Al-Ahram daily on Friday as saying that hotel occupancy in the resort cities of Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada stands at less than 20 per cent and that the cities lose nearly 2 billion Egyptian pounds (more than $250 million) each month.

Russia suspended all flights to Egypt and Britain halted flights to Sharm el-Sheikh after the Oct. 31 crash.

The Islamic State group claims that it planted a bomb onboard and Moscow has concluded the plane was downed by an explosive. But Egypt claims it is still investigating the cause.