One of the halls at Beirut international airport. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/ L'Orient Today)
Several airlines have canceled flights to and from Beirut following the Israeli strike on the southern suburbs on Friday afternoon, heightening tensions between Hezbollah and Israel. The attack resulted in at least 12 fatalities, including Ibrahim Aqil, head of Hezbollah's elite unit, and 66 injuries, according to the latest report from the Health Ministry. The Israeli army also reported the deaths of ten commanders from the party. Notably, Aqil was involved in the 1983 bombings of the US embassy in Lebanon. This strike follows deadly attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday that left over 37 dead and more than 3,000 injured.
Despite the cancellations, many airlines are continuing to operate normally. Fadi Hassan, the director of civil aviation at the airport, told L'Orient Today that some airlines suspended flights on Saturday amid escalating tensions, but most remain unaffected.
Emirates: Canceled flight EK954 on September 20 from Beirut to Dubai International Airport (DXB).
Air France: Canceled all flights to and from Rafic Hariri International Airport until September 24.
Sundair: Canceled flight SR151 on September 20 to Berlin.
Turkish Airlines: Canceled flight TK825 on September 21. A flight scheduled for September 22 was also canceled. Additionally, flight TK824 on September 21, which was supposed to land in Beirut, was canceled.
Pegasus: Canceled flight PC1825 on September 21 to Antalya.
Lufthansa: Canceled flight LH1307 on September 21 to Berlin and flight LH1306, which was supposed to return to Beirut.
Cyprus Airlines: Canceled flight CY121 on September 21 to Cyprus and flight CY120 from Cyprus to Beirut.
Qatar Airways: Canceled flight QR419 on September 21 to Doha.
On Saturday, the following additional flights were also canceled:
Ethiopian Airlines: Canceled flights ET406 and ET416 from Addis Ababa to Beirut.
Turkish Airlines: Canceled flights TK828, TK830, and TK826 from Istanbul to Beirut.
Qatar Airways: Canceled flight QR418 from Doha to Beirut.
Moreover, TAROM Romanian Air Transport canceled flight RO167 from Bucharest to Beirut, originally scheduled for Sunday.
With each escalation in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, several airlines suspend flights to and from Beirut, as well as those to Tel Aviv.
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.