With the escalating violence between Israel and Hezbollah, an increasing number of flights are being canceled at Rafik Hariri International Airport. Screenshot.
This morning, Rafik Hariri International Airport is facing a new wave of flight cancellations due to the tense security situation linked to Israeli bombardments. According to sources from the airport and a travel agency in Lebanon:
- Cyprus Airways has canceled all its flights until further notice.
- Flydubai has suspended its flights to Lebanon on Sept. 24 and 25.
- Air Arabia has canceled its flights for today.
- Iraqi Airways has also announced the cancellation of its flights.
- Qatar Airways has announced the suspension of its flights to Beirut until Wednesday.
- Etihad Airways has canceled its flights for Tuesday.
In total, more than 30 flights to and from Beirut have been canceled for Tuesday, according to the airport's website.
These airlines add to those that have already announced flight suspensions. Lufthansa has suspended its flights to Beirut until Oct. 26. Air France has canceled all its flights to and from the airport until Oct. 1, according to a local travel agent. This information could not be verified with the Air France-KLM press service.
Romanian airline Tarom has suspended its flights until Oct. 4. The German airline Sundair has extended the suspension of its flights from Berlin to Beirut until Monday, Sept. 30, due to the security situation in Lebanon, according to sources at the airport and a European travel agency.
On Monday, Pegasus Airlines canceled its four flights scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 24. That same evening, two sources at the airport indicated that Qatar Airways had canceled its two daily flights still scheduled for Sept. 25. According to the same two sources, Turkish Airlines canceled its flights scheduled for Sept. 24 and 25 on Monday evening.
As for the national carrier, Middle East Airlines continues to operate normally and "is putting on additional flights to fill the gap left by other airlines that have ceased operations to Lebanon," said Jean Abboud, president of the syndicate of travel and tourism agency owners, on Monday.
On Monday, Israeli bombardments in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa resulted in nearly 500 deaths, thousands of injuries, and tens of thousands of displaced persons. In the evening, a new strike also targeted a senior Hezbollah commander in the southern suburbs of Beirut, who, according to Hezbollah, escaped the attack.
On Monday, Abboud also mentioned "a 30 to 40 percent decrease" in flights at the airport, in a statement quoted by the National News Agency (NNA). "Traffic at the airport has seen a significant decline in recent days, and about 14 airlines have suspended their flights to and from Lebanon due to the security and military developments in the country," he stated.
Many foreign airlines are canceling and suspending their flights to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.