Kuwait Airways, Air France, Transavia suspend flights to Beirut

Kuwait Airways has announced the suspension of its services to Beirut from Monday, while Air France and Transavia France have decided to extend the suspension of their flights to the Lebanese capital, amid fears of a military escalation in the wake of the Gaza war.

In a statement published on X, the Kuwaiti airline said it was operating its last flights from Beirut this Sunday, calling on passengers wishing to leave the country to readjust their flights.

For its part, the Air France-KLM group said it was extending until "at least Aug. 6 inclusive" the suspension of its services to Lebanon "due to the security situation."

Services to the capital by Air France and Transavia France have been suspended since 29 July, due to the deteriorating security situation and the risk of a further increase in clashes between Israel and Hezbollah. However, flights to Tel Aviv "continue to operate normally," a spokesman for the Franco-Dutch airline group told AFP.

"The resumption of operations will be subject to a new assessment of the situation on the ground," according to the same source, while "commercial measures are in place, allowing customers with a reservation for flights to/from Beirut scheduled before and including Aug. 11, 2024 to postpone or cancel their trip free of charge."

In addition to Air France and Transavia, several airlines have suspended their flights to Beirut, including the German Lufthansa group, which has suspended flights until Aug. 5. Lufthansa and the Italian group ITA also announced on Thursday that they were suspending their flights to Tel Aviv for several days.

Air France normally operates a daily service to Beirut from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport using an Airbus A330 wide-body aircraft. Transavia France, which operates single-aisle Boeing 737 and Airbus A320neo aircraft, also flies to Lebanon from Paris (eight flights a week), as well as Marseille and Lyon (two flights each) and Nice (one flight).

These decisions come at a time of heightened tension in the Middle East, with the risk of regional escalation by Iran and its allies feared following the killing of Hezbollah military chief Fouad Shokur and the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

This article was originally published in French on L'Orient-Le jour.

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