Travelers walk through one of the halls of Beirut airport in January 2024. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient-Le Jour)
The group of airlines that have decided to resume flights to Beirut following the Nov. 27 cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel has grown in recent days, according to sources from four travel agencies operating in Lebanon contacted by L’Orient-Le Jour.
Other airlines, however, remain hesitant and may stick to their initial decision to skip the holiday season, a time when demand for flights to Lebanon typically surges due to the diaspora returning to visit their families.
German airline SundAir resumed its flights connecting Berlin to the Lebanese capital last Friday and will operate two flights per week, according to two sources contacted. It is the first European airline to resume flights to Lebanon since nearly all 60 airlines that typically served Beirut suspended operations when the war escalated in late summer. SundAir plans to operate two weekly flights but may increase its schedule if demand warrants, according to a source.
Between late September and Dec. 1, only Lebanon’s national carrier, Middle East Airlines (MEA), continued to operate flights to and from Lebanon despite the Israeli bombardments.
In the Gulf, UAE-based low-cost airline Air Arabia announced in a message to travel agencies that it will resume flights to Beirut starting Dec. 18, a week before Christmas. The message did not specify the number of weekly flights the airline plans to operate, and its booking website has yet to be updated.
The third announcement comes from Lebanese tour operator Nakhal, which informed L’Orient-Le Jour of the imminent resumption of its regular charter flights between Beirut and Adana, Turkey, starting Dec. 15, with two flights per week beginning Dec. 19, according to a spokesperson for the agency. Nakhal also plans to schedule several flights between Beirut and Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, from Dec. 24 to Jan. 1, 2025.
Summary
Other airlines that have confirmed and already resumed flights to Beirut in December include Royal Jordanian (since Dec. 1), Turkish Airlines (since Dec. 3), Ethiopian Airlines (since Dec. 8), Qatar Airways (since Dec. 9), and Etihad Airways (scheduled for Dec. 18).
Airlines still hesitant or skipping the holiday season include EgyptAir (extended suspension until Dec. 27, though a potential resumption on Dec. 17 was mentioned in a message to one of the agencies contacted); Emirates (resumption set for Jan. 1); Air France-KLM Group (scheduled to resume Jan. 5); and Lufthansa Group (resumption planned for early March).
Iraqi Airways operated a flight between Baghdad and Beirut in the first week of December before Iraqi authorities temporarily suspended the route, citing security concerns related to developments in Syria, over which its planes must fly. This decision was announced earlier this week by Iraq.
Finally, there is still no update from several other airlines based near Lebanon, such as Aegean Airlines or Cyprus Airways.
This article was originally published in French in L’Orient-Le Jour.