Summary

  • Aegean Airlines and Condor join others by suspending flights to Lebanon amid rising tensions in the region.
  • While some airlines continue operating flights, Beirut Airport faces chaos with cancellations and delays due to escalating security concerns.
  • Lebanese airline MEA forced to make schedule changes due to insurance risks.

Greek national carrier Aegean Airlines and German carrier Condor are the latest airlines to cancel flights to Lebanon as tensions in the region rise. Several carriers, including Air France, Lufthansa, Ethiopian and Turkish Airlines, have already suspended service to the country.

More airlines suspend Beirut flights

According to a Reuters report, Aegean Airlines will suspend service to Beirut-Rafic Al Hariri International Airport (BEY) until at least Thursday due to “the current situation in the Middle East.” Aegean usually operates six weekly flights to Beirut out of its Athens (ATH) hub using its Airbus A320 fleet.

A statement from Aegean said,

“We are constantly evaluating the developments following the instructions of the competent authorities.”

Lufthansa and its subsidiaries SWISS and Eurowings were among the first airlines to suspend flights to Beirut, with Lufthansa Group stating that five routes will be unavailable until at least August 5th. In fact, the airline group had already suspended night flights into Beirut for this month due to security concerns.

Related

Several Airlines Halt Flights To Beirut Due To Israel-Hezbollah Conflict

13 flights were canceled today.

They are joined by fellow German carrier Condor, which canceled a Tuesday flight to the Lebanese capital out of Düsseldorf (DUS). The airline operates this service once a week with its 180-seater Airbus A320 aircraft.

Condor A320

Photo: Michael Derrer Fuchs | Shutterstock

Tensions in the region are escalating following a suspected Hezbollah rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights which led to 12 deaths. Many governments have issued warnings to their citizens to leave Lebanon due to the threat of a larger scale conflict with Israel breaking out.

Some airlines still flying

A number of airlines continue to operate flights to Beirut – according to flight data, this includes the Middle Eastern three of Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways, as well as the likes of EgyptAir, flydubai, Iran Air, Pegasus and Royal Jordanian. Locals have also continued to come to the airport to welcome arriving family and friends without concern about an Israeli attack.

Middle East Airlines Airbus A321neo.

Photo: Bern James | Shutterstock

However, Lebanese carrier Middle East Airlines (MEA) has been forced into schedule changes, including services from Doha, Dubai and London. The carrier also delayed a handful of flights that had been due to arrive on Sunday evening until Monday morning. The airline said in a statement,

“Due to technical reasons related to the distribution of insurance risks for aircraft between Lebanon and other destinations, Middle East Airlines also announces additional changes to some of its flights on July 29.”

According to aviation website FlightAware, there were a total of 30 inbound and outbound cancelation at Beirut on Monday, along with over 40 delayed flights, with similar numbers for Tuesday too.

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