Two planes from the Lebanese airline Middle East Airlines (MEA) on the tarmac of Beirut International Airport. (Credit: Roy Issa/AFP)
The Lebanese national airline, Middle East Airlines (MEA), has announced that an additional flight per day will be provided from Rafik Hariri International Airport (RHIA) to Istanbul, Turkey, starting this Monday, June 16. It has been scheduled for 4:50 p.m. (local time), while the return flight to the Lebanese capital will depart at 7:50 p.m. from Istanbul.
Additionally, an extra daily flight will also connect Beirut to Milan, Italy, as well as Cairo, Egypt, starting Tuesday, June 17. These have been respectively scheduled for 12:30 p.m. and 1 p.m., while the return flights will depart at 3:20 p.m. from Cairo and 4:25 p.m. from Milan.
Since Friday and the Israeli attack on Iran, which launched the war between Tehran and Tel Aviv, many airlines have suspended their flights to Beirut and Lebanese airspace was temporarily closed for two consecutive nights over the weekend, as were those of other countries in the region, due to the missile exchange and passage of drones and planes between the two non-bordering powers.
On Sunday, the director of Civil Aviation, Amin Jaber, indicated that airlines were now operating with on-demand flight requests rather than a fixed schedule.