Outrage or tragedy?

THOUGH speculation continues around the cause of the air crash that plunged an EgyptAir flight carrying 66 people into the Mediterranean, one thing is certain.

This tragedy — it is too early to call it an outrage — is another body blow to Egyptian tourism and tourism in the wider region. It is another blow to the tens of thousands who work in the industry and depend on it for their income.

Just as the murderous beach attack in Tunisia hit one of that county’s primary employers, the air crash will hit incomes and exacerbate unemployment and poverty — the very conditions terrorists need to recruit and exploit angry young men and women.

If terrorist involvement is confirmed, and the odds must be that it will, then this is another blow for the security services responsible for making airports safe for passengers. That reality must be tempered with the fact that the world’s busiest airports deal with a constant flow of passengers often in confounding numbers. Because of that it is a miracle that there are so very few terror attacks on airports.