SCOTS holidaymakers jetted home from Sharm el-Sheikh last night after a day of flights chaos that has left many Britons still stranded in the Red Sea resort.

Nearly 200 passengers arrived at Glasgow Airport on one of only two Thomson Airways flights to the UK, amid eleventh hour cancellations to numerous flights.

It came as Russia suspended all flights to and from the Sinai peninsula.

Thomson was originally scheduled to operate nine flights, with Monarch, Thomas Cook and Easyjet also hit by cancellations.

The UK had organised 29 rescue flights for 4,000 passengers today, but Egypt allowed just eight to depart from Sharm El Sheikh.

Planes sat empty on the tarmac, while others en route from the UK were forced to turn back when they were refused permission to land.

Egyptian authorities blamed "capacity issues" and a build-up of luggage at Sharm el-Sheikh Airport for the disruption, as UK travellers were banned from carrying anything except hand baggage on board amid a security crackdown. Suitcases will be returned to the UK separately on cargo planes.

Egypt’s civil aviation minister, Hossam Kamal, said the airport was unable to accommodate more than 120 tonnes of left luggage.

He said: “This big volume will affect the smooth operation of the rest of the domestic and international flights.

“Egypt fully co-operates with the British side in the light of the resources of the airport and in accordance with international security regulations.”

Thomson Airways is also scheduled to fly Scots holidaymakers back to Edinburgh Airport tomorrow, with a second flight from Sharm el-Sheikh to Glasgow Airport on Sunday, but these may now suffer knock-on delays and cancellations.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said information obtained by UK officials indicated there was a “high probability” that a Russian passenger jet which crashed in Egypt's Sinai peninsula last weekend was destroyed by a bomb planted at Sharm el-Sheikh Airport as part of an Isis-linked terror plot.

The intelligence is reportedly based on intercepted communications between Sinai militants in the days before the crash which point towards a bomb plot. It is thought an explosive device could have been placed inside or on top of luggage by someone with access to the hold.

The attack is said to have been motivated by Russia's military support for the Assad regime in Syria, against Isis insurgents.

Flights between the UK and Sharm el-Sheikh were dramatically halted on Wednesday as Downing Street announced it was sending aviation experts to assess security arrangements at the Egyptian tourist hub.

Yesterday, Russia indicated that it too was taking the claims seriously as it pulled the plug on all flights carrying its nationals to and from the Red Sea resort.  Alexander Bortnikov, head of Russian intelligence said it was a reasonable step "until we determine the real reasons for what happened".

Russian investigators are analysing data retrieved from the stricken aircrafts two black boxes and searching for traces of explosive material in the wreckage.

The Airbus 321 operated by Russian airline Metrojet crashed last Saturday, killing all 224 people on board.

Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands have also restricted travel to Sharm el-Sheikh, while the US announced it is stepping up security screening of items on US-bound flights from some Middle East airports.

The Department for Transport confirmed that a Thomson passenger jet narrowing avoided being struck by a missile on August 23, as it came in to land at Sharm el-Sheikh Airport.

The incident came just two months before a Russian passenger plane crashed in the Sinai peninsula.

The charter flight from London Stansted only took evasive action after the pilot spotted the missile speeding through the air, according to reports.

The jet landed safely and passengers disembarked at the Red Sea Resort oblivious to the near-miss.

Security experts have previously denied that Isis militants active in the Sinai region possess missiles capable of bringing down a commercial jet.