LONDON -- 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 cancelling flights to the Egyptian capital for a week. The German airline said normal operations would resume Sunday.

Both carriers delivered two-sentence statements via email.



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 U.S. sanctions' effect on Iran's economy and oil exports.

The strait and Cairo are separated by 2,500 kilometres (1,500 miles).

Lufthansa spokesman Tal Muscal said the company has two flights a day to Cairo, one each from Frankfurt and Munich.