Travelers in the departures terminal of Beirut International Airport. (Credit: L'Orient Today archives)
BEIRUT — Several airlines have cancelled or delayed flights in and out of Beirut International Airport as Lebanon and the international community expect Israel to retaliate for a deadly strike that killed 12 children in the occupied Golan Heights on Saturday evening.
These flight changes are in addition to delays accrued by several scheduled Middle East Airline (MEA) flights up until at least Monday morning. The delays were announced earlier in the day on Sunday and were due to "technical reasons relating to the distribution of insurance risks for aircraft between Lebanon and abroad," according to a statement released by MEA later in the day.
The majority of arriving flights scheduled between midnight and 6 a.m. on Monday were postponed or cancelled, according to updates posted on the airport website. These include flights by Qatar Airways, Pegasus, Ethiopian Airlines, Turkish Airlines and Egyptair. Departing flights of the same airlines were also cancelled or postponed.
Details of modified flights in Beirut over the next few hours:
Arrivals:
- 12:10 a.m. Qatar Airways flight QR418 from Doha: rescheduled to 8:15 a.m.
- 1:45 a.m. Pegasus flight PC758 from Istanbul: rescheduled to 7:20 a.m.
- 1:50 a.m. flight A3946 from Athens: cancelled.
- 2:05 a.m. Ethiopian Airlines flight ET406 from Addis Ababa: cancelled.
- 2:20 a.m. flight VF 543 from Ankara: cancelled.
- 2:35 a.m. Turkish Airlines flight TK828 from Istanbul: postponed to 6 p.m.
- 3:05 a.m. Ethiopian Airlines flight ET416 from Addis Ababa: cancelled.
- 4:35 a.m. Egyptair flight MS713 from Cairo: cancelled.
Departures:
- 1:55 a.m. Qatar Airways flight QR419 to Doha: rescheduled to 9:45 a.m.
- 3:05 a.m. Ethiopian Airlines flight ET407 to Addis Ababa: cancelled.
- 3:20 a.m. flight VF544 to Ankara: cancelled.
- 3:45 a.m. Pegasus flight PC759 to Istanbul: rescheduled to 8:30 a.m.
- 3:55 a.m. Turkish Airlines flight TK829 to Istanbul: rescheduled to 7:30 p.m.
- 3:55 a.m. Ethiopian Airlines flight ET407 to Addis Ababa: cancelled.
- 4 a.m. flight A3 947 to Athens: cancelled.
- 5:35 a.m. Egyptair flight MS714 to Cairo: cancelled.
