BERLIN: Several airlines have suspended services to Lebanon’s main international airport as tensions escalate between Israel and the Hezbollah militia group.
Deutsche Lufthansa AG, along with its units Swiss International and Eurowings, said it will halt flights to and from Beirut until August 6, while Greece’s Aegean Airlines has canceled some flights and is assessing the situation on a daily basis. Qatar Airways will adjust its schedule to ensure all flights to Beirut operate during daytime, according to a spokesperson.
Lebanese flag carrier Middle East Airlines rescheduled some flights on Sunday and Monday as it looked to distribute insurance risks for aircraft inside and outside the country, the company said in a statement posted on X. Air France halted flights to Beirut on July 29 and 30, and said it was monitoring the situation in real-time.
Air France and low-cost carrier Transavia France and Austrian AIrlines have also suspended their flights between Paris and Beirut due to the “security situation” in Lebanon, a spokesman for the companies said on Monday.
The group’s flights to Lebanon were cancelled as a result of “current developments in the Middle East”, a Lufthansa spokesman told AFP.
Israel said Sunday it would retaliate after rocket fire from Lebanon killed 12 young people in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.
Israel blamed Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement but the Iran-backed group said it had “no connection” to the strike.
The incident heightened fears that the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza could spread north to Lebanon.
Israeli forces and Hezbollah have traded cross-border fire since early October, following the attack by the Lebanese group’s ally Hamas on southern Israel on October 7 which sparked the war in Gaza.
The Lufthansa group, which includes SWISS and Austrian Airlines, has repeatedly paused travel to the region since the conflict began.
