One of the pedestrian streets in downtown Beirut, located next to the Beirut Souks mall, on Dec. 9, 2024. (Credit: Philippe Hage Boutros/Archives L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — “I decided to skip Christmas this year,” says Pamela*, a Lebanese expat living in Austria. She usually books her flights home for the holidays well in advance, but the war that raged between Hezbollah and Israel since late September made it hard to plan ahead.When a cease-fire was finally reached on Nov. 27, she, like many Lebanese abroad, immediately looked at flights to Beirut. With only Middle East Airlines (MEA) on the scene, and the slow return of other airlines — which had suspended their operations in and out of the capital due to the war — flight offerings proved to be limited, fully booked, or exorbitantly priced.“I delayed my vacation till Jan. 2, when tickets were cheaper. It was a last minute vacation,” she says. Read more After cease-fire calm, Lebanese expats and airlines alike return in December The volatile...
BEIRUT — “I decided to skip Christmas this year,” says Pamela*, a Lebanese expat living in Austria. She usually books her flights home for the holidays well in advance, but the war that raged between Hezbollah and Israel since late September made it hard to plan ahead.When a cease-fire was finally reached on Nov. 27, she, like many Lebanese abroad, immediately looked at flights to Beirut. With only Middle East Airlines (MEA) on the scene, and the slow return of other airlines — which had suspended their operations in and out of the capital due to the war — flight offerings proved to be limited, fully booked, or exorbitantly priced.“I delayed my vacation till Jan. 2, when tickets were cheaper. It was a last minute vacation,” she says. Read more After cease-fire calm, Lebanese expats and airlines alike return in December ...
