Travelers at Beirut's international airport on Dec. 19, 2026. (Credit: Philippe Hage Boutros/L'Orient-Le Jour)
As a 10-day truce took effect at midnight on Friday between Lebanon and Israel, at least two foreign airlines announced on Friday their imminent return to Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport (RHIA), giving some relief to Lebanese travel operators whose activity had been nearly reduced to nothing in the wake of the regional war triggered by the Israeli-American offensive against Iran on Feb. 28.
In addition to its toll of deaths and destruction, this war has paralyzed air transport in the Middle East and the Gulf, with several countries forced to close their airspace.
In a message to its partners in Lebanon, Air Arabia was the first to speak up Friday, announcing the upcoming resumption of its flights between the Emirate of Sharjah and RHIA starting April 23. Air Arabia thus becomes the second Emirati airline to announce a return to Beirut, after Flydubai, which is set to operate its first flight Saturday. Emirates, for its part, has not yet made any announcement regarding Lebanon.
A few hours later, Cyprus Airways announced its decision to resume its flights between Larnaca and Beirut from May 1, thus becoming the first European airline to return to Beirut since the beginning of the regional war that saw a first pause with the two-week cease-fire agreed upon 10 days ago by Tehran and Washington, before the second truce between Tel Aviv and Beirut.
More may follow. "Several airlines have contacted us, either to resume their flights or to request slots for additional flights," said Jalal Haidar, a Lebanese-American recently appointed COO of the airport, to L'Orient-Le Jour.
EgyptAir, which had suspended its flights until April 15, may resume its flights as early as May. A week ago, the Egyptian airline said in a statement that "the necessary authorization to operate flights to Kuwait, Doha, Bahrain and Beirut" were in progress, and new schedules would be announced once coordination with the relevant authorities was finalized, Haidar added. New schedules could be announced once the airlines have finalized their new plans.
"Emirates is expected to return soon but as of now there are no specific plans for their return." The UAE's flagship carrier, a global giant in air transport, has a large fleet and network that require precise planning before returning to normal. One of the main challenges faced by the global airline industry is the sharp rise in aviation fuel prices. For example, a ton of fuel averaged around $850 before the war, but shot up to $1,800 with the war.
Turkish Airlines is in permanent contact with Lebanon's civil aviation authority, fueling hopes of the Turkish carrier's return to Lebanon as soon as possible, adds Haidar. "We hope that the Rafik Hariri International Airport will go back to full normalcy soon, as stability is very critical for civil aviation anywhere in the world," he added.
In the meantime, the announcements from Air Arabia and Cyprus Airways add to a growing list since the cease-fire took effect 10 days ago. Prior to that, Middle East Airlines was the only carrier regularly operating to and from Beirut, with only its connections to countries that had partially or completely closed their airspace interrupted.
Royal Jordanian, which had operated very intermittent flights between Amman and Beirut and had not made any official announcement, confirmed Thursday evening the resumption of its regular flights between Amman and the Lebanese capital starting Sunday.
Barring any surprises, Flydubai will return to the Lebanese capital Saturday, followed by Iraqi Airways on Sunday, while the small Iraqi airline UR Airlines has already operated at least one flight between Lebanon and Iraq.
Qatar Airways resumed one daily flight starting April 14, as announced just after the truce between Washington and Tehran.
On the other hand, Air France, Turkish Airlines and Pegasus will not likely return to RHIA before May at the earliest, while Emirates has not yet communicated on a possible return.
Travel agencies in Lebanon are watching the situation with anxiety. In a statement to Cedar's Report, the president of the Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies in Lebanon, Jean Abboud, said that "if the situation persists, all private companies will be even more affected, and that would impact salaries."
"Personally, I can say that my company's productivity last month was almost zero and if the situation continues for another month or two, we will face financial problems that will inevitably have a negative impact on employees," he said.
