Flights operating into and out of Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport (BEY) are being subjected to delays and cancellations as airlines take remedial action amid the imminent threat that tensions in the region could boil over at any time.
Following a rise in tensions between Israel and the armed political group Hezbollah over recent weeks, culminating in the rocket attack on July 27, 2024, in which 12 children were killed in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the threat of all-out war between the two is widely expected by Middle East commentators.
On July 29, 2024, German airline group Lufthansa announced it was suspending five routes to and from Beirut operated by its member carriers Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines, and Eurowings “in an abundance of caution”. The suspension is to last until July 30, 2024, at the earliest, according to a group statement.
Meanwhile, other airlines are following suit by canceling services, with more carriers expected to follow in the coming days. Turkish Airlines canceled two flights on July 28, 2024, while its low-cost subsidiary AJet has also canceled services. Other airlines withdrawing services include Turkish leisure airline Sun Express, plus Ethiopian Airlines and Aegean Airlines.
A glance at data supplied by aviation website Flightradar24 shows that Beirut’s home-based airline, Middle East Airlines (MEA) appears to be operating as normal for the time being, with its 18 departures on July 29, 2024, all planned to operate. However, the carrier did cancel some services due to depart on the afternoon of July 27, 2024, to avoid late-night arrivals back at Beirut Airport overnight.
An MEA statement said that delays to flights due to land back in Beirut on July 29, 2024, were due to “technical reasons related to the distribution of insurance risks for aircraft between Lebanon and other destinations”.
Other major carriers such as Emirates, Air France, and Qatar Airways are also continuing to operate into Beirut for the time being.
With tensions at boiling point, insurance companies that insure commercial aircraft will undoubtedly be monitoring the situation very closely and providing real-time updates to their airline clients.
Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport is Lebanon’s only airport and has been the target of previous attacks in both the country’s civil war and previous conflicts with Israel, including the most recent war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006. On July 28, 2024, Israel’s security cabinet gave the green light to the Israeli government to take responsive action to the attack in the Golan Heights, although Hezbollah has officially denied any involvement.
The Golan Heights attack was the deadliest in either Israel or one of its annexed territories since the start of the latest round of conflict to engulf the area since the Hamas-led assault on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in Gaza, which continues to spread on several fronts, and fueling fears that the commencement of all-out war across the entire region is imminent.
