Plans to evacuate hundreds of stranded Britons from a resort town in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula were put on hold Friday, after Egypt suspended British flights from flying into the insurgent-riddled region.

EasyJet, a British budget airline, said the suspension means only two of its scheduled 10 extra flights were able to reach the Sharm el-Sheikh airport and will be able to depart Friday.

Egyptian officials have not said why the flights were called off.

Britain on Wednesday grounded all flights to and from the Sinai after reports suggested a bomb may have brought down a Russian airliner in the region last week, killing all 224 passengers and crew.

London said it would resume the flights Friday after British and Egyptian officials agreed to expanded security measures at the Sharm el-Sheikh airport.

Also Friday, international airlines began prohibiting checked luggage on some flights out of the capital, Cairo.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines said in a statement only carry-on bags will be permitted on its Friday flight from Cairo to Amsterdam. It did not say how long the policy would be in effect, but noted the move was “based on national and international information and out of precaution.”

Transavia, a budget airline owned by KLM and Air France, announced later Friday it was following the Dutch airline’s lead, saying that “holidaymakers may only take hand luggage” on trips leaving Egypt.

Obama: ‘possibility’ bomb downed plane

On Thursday, U.S. President Barack Obama said “there is a possibility” that a bomb destroyed the Russian jetliner.

“We’re going to spend a lot of time just making sure our own investigators and our own intelligence community find out what’s going on before we make any definitive pronouncements. But it’s certainly possible that there was a bomb on board,” Obama told KIRO radio in Seattle.

British Prime Minister David Cameron also says it is “more likely than not” the plane was bombed.

Cameron met in London Thursday with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who, along with the Russians, say any theory that there was a bomb on the plane is nothing more than speculation.

Crash details

The Russian Metrojet flight went down 23 minutes after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh on its way to St. Petersburg Saturday.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for attacking the jet. It has yet to offer any evidence to back it up.

But a U.S. official has said intercepted communications point to the extremists and that someone inside the Sharm el-Sheikh airport helped plant the bomb.

Sissi has dismissed Islamic State’s claim as nothing but propaganda aimed at damaging Egyptian stability and security. Any confirmation of terrorist involvement in the plane crash could further damage Egypt’s crumbling but vital tourist industry.

Experts are examining the wreckage for any signs of terrorism. Some reports say forensic examinations have revealed shrapnel in some of the victims. The experts have retrieved both black box recorders.

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