A plane belonging to Lebanon's Middle East Airlines (MEA) lands at Beirut airport. (Credit : AFP/Archive)
Lebanon's Middle East Airlines (MEA) announced Monday that it grounded five of its aircraft in Istanbul "as a precautionary measure" due to the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas, which has spilled over into southern Lebanon.
Exchanges of rocket fire have been ongoing for several days on both sides of the Lebanese-Israeli border, resulting in casualties.
"In light of the situation in the region, five of the airline's 24 aircraft have been temporarily grounded at Istanbul Airport," the airline announced in a statement.
"Implemented during the low season, this preventive measure will have no impact on the company's daily operations, as it continues to operate its flights according to the regular schedule," MEA assured. The airline also mentioned an "emergency plan" that they would "activate if necessary."
Last Thursday, MEA refuted rumors that some of its aircraft were grounded in Istanbul due to tensions on the Lebanese-Israeli border.
Abbas Cherif, Head of E-commerce at MEA, explained to L'Orient-Le Jour that "two aircraft were grounded in Turkey as part of the annual maintenance routine."
Due to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, airlines Swiss, Lufthansa, and Eurowings have recently announced the suspension of their services to Beirut.
On Monday, the Canadian government urged its citizens in Lebanon to "consider leaving the country" while commercial flights are still available.
Lebanon's national airline withdrew all its aircraft from Beirut Airport at the beginning of the war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006. The month-long conflict resulted in 1,200 Lebanese dead, mostly civilians, and 157 Israelis, mostly soldiers. The airport was bombed during the conflict and paused all operations.