British Airways and Lufthansa both said Saturday they were suspending flights to Cairo for unspecified reasons related to safety and security.
The British carrier said it was canceling flights to the Egyptian capital for a week. The German airline said normal operations would resume Sunday.
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British Airways attributed its cancellations to what it called its constant review of security arrangements at all airports, calling them "a precaution to allow for further assessment."
Lufthansa said it was suspending its flights as a precaution, mentioning "safety" but not "security" as its concern.
Company spokespeople would not elaborate on what motivated the suspensions.
They come as Britain weighs its response to Iran's seizure Friday of a British-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz and rising tensions stemming from US sanctions' effect on Iran's economy and oil exports.
The strait and Cairo are separated by 1,500 miles.
Lufthansa spokesman Tal Muscal said the company has two flights a day to Cairo, one each from Frankfurt and Munich.
The British Foreign Office updated its travel advisory on Saturday to add a reference to the British Airways' suspension, advising travelers affected to contact the airline.
Egypt's Civil Aviation Ministry said in a statement that it had contacted the British Embassy in Cairo which had confirmed that the decision to suspend the flights was not issued by Britain's Transport Department or Foreign Office.
The Egyptian ministry added that it will add more flights from Cairo to London and Berlin starting on Sunday "to facilitate transporting passengers during this period."
