A general view shows the Lebanese International Airport in the capital Beirut, on Nov. 1, 2023. (Credit: Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP)
Middle East Airlines (MEA) announced on Tuesday a new schedule of flights to Baghdad, however, it did not change the number of scheduled connections to the Iraqi capital.
- From Nov. 9, the MEA will operate a Beirut-Baghdad outward journey (ME322; 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.) and a Baghdad-Beirut return trip (ME323; 3 p.m. to 3:35 p.m.) every Thursday.
- A round trip (ME322 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; ME323 1:30 p.m. to 2:05 p.m.) is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 11.
- From Nov. 12, the MEA will operate a round trip (ME322 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; ME 323 2:30 p.m. to 2:05 p.m.) every Saturday and Sunday.
- From Nov. 15, flights will be scheduled every Wednesday as follows: outbound Beirut-Baghdad (ME322 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.); return Baghdad-Beirut (ME323 2:30 p.m. to 3:05 p.m.).
In a previous press release, the company indicated that it operated Beirut-Baghdad flights every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday (ME322 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; ME323 1:30 p.m. to 2:05 p.m.).
An MEA spokesperson told L'Orient-Le Jour that the company has not changed the number of flights to Baghdad. "These changes were made due to the additional flights announced the day before to Jeddah and Riyadh," she explained. The move came after the MEA significantly reduced its flights departing from and arriving at Beirut International Airport (BIA) due to the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Hamas and Israel.
On Monday, the president of the Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies in Lebanon, Jean Abboud, for his part indicated to L'Orient Le Jour that "flights are full for certain destinations, mainly because airlines, including MEA, have reduced their supply since the start of the war, canceling many flights."
"In terms of demand, we are down 20 percent for departures and 30 to 35 percent for arrivals compared to the usual level of activity at this time of the year," he said.