Region | Lebanon
All flights to Beirut cancelled
All flights from the UAE to Lebanon's capital Beirut were cancelled until further notice on Thursday after Israeli missile attacks forced the closure of the country's only international airport.
- By Robert Ditcham, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:33 May 3, 2009
Dubai: All flights from the UAE to Lebanon's capital Beirut were cancelled until further notice on Thursday after Israeli missile attacks forced the closure of the country's only international airport.
Thousands of business and leisure passengers heading for the UAE are now stranded in Lebanon after Israel fired three missiles at the airport runways on Thursday morning, claiming the airport was used to supply weapons to Hezbollah. The UAE is one of the largest source markets for Lebanon's tourism industry.
?
Dubai-based airline Emirates, which flies to Beirut 13 times a week, cancelled its two scheduled flights on Thursday and Friday's morning flight.
It is re-routing the Friday afternoon Beirut flight to Damascus, Syria, where scores of UAE residents are expected to head in an effort to return home, despite Israeli threats to block land travel.
?
The company said it is making arrangements to accommodate transit passengers in hotels and is asking affected passengers to contact its call centre (04-2144444) for situation updates and re-booking requests.
Abu Dhabi carrier Etihad Airways confirmed that it has halted its single daily flight to Beirut as of yesterday, with resumption possible within 48 hours, according to Ian Ferguson Brown, head of brand management and communication.
He explained that Etihad is either fully refunding the ticket price or postponing travel dates for customers.
"We are carefully studying and assessing the situation and all the options are open for us, including the possibility of additional flights on the Damascus route to cater to those who have been stranded in Beirut and wish to return. We are quite flexible in this respect," he added.
"All Beirut-bound flights from Dubai International Airport have been cancelled till Saturday," a spokesperson for the Department of Civil Aviation told Gulf News on Thursday.
"Airlines themselves will issue further directives by Saturday, depending on the developments in Beirut."
All UAE carriers - Emirates, Etihad Airways and Air Arabia - operate regular flights out of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. Apart from these, Oman Air, Middle East Airlines, Malaysian Airlines as well as two European carriers operate regular services to Lebanese capital.
The UAE office of Lebanon-based Middle East Airlines (MEA) was not available for comment, but a MEA staff member in Cairo said most of its jets were simply stuck on the ground in Beirut.
"We do not know what is going to happen, we are still awaiting instructions from Lebanon. We did not have to re-route flights to anywhere, because the flights did not come from Beirut to start with," she said. "We have not cancelled the flights. They are just on hold."
-With inputs from Ahmad Elewa and Rania Oteify, Staff Reporters
Share this article
Related Articles
Popular in News
News Editor's choice
-
Anti-terror force enlisted for Haj
Aerial surveillance to complement normal security operations
-
English to stay as medium of instruction
Lack of funding of scientific research in Arab world criticised
-
Global Village opens with a revamped layout
Four gates will have themes making it easier to find specific pavilions
