Beirut, July 29 — Numerous flights have been canceled and delayed in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, as tensions between Israel and the armed group Hezbollah escalate. Middle East Airlines (MEA) announced on Monday that it has canceled and delayed multiple flights due to the growing regional instability.
The Lufthansa Group, a German airline company, stated it has temporarily suspended five routes to and from Beirut. Flights operated by three of the group's companies—Swiss International Airlines, Eurowings, and Lufthansa—will be suspended until July 30. This information was reported by Qatar-based media outlet Al Jazeera.
Flight tracking website FlightRadar24 and Beirut Airport's flight information board indicated that Turkish Airlines canceled two Sunday night flights. Several flights scheduled to land in Beirut on Monday were also canceled by Turkish budget airlines SunExpress, Jet, Greece's Aegean Airlines, Ethiopian Air, and MEA. These airlines have not yet commented on the cancellations.
Rafic Hariri International Airport, Beirut's sole airport, has been repeatedly affected by Lebanon's civil war and previous conflicts with Israel, including the 2006 Hezbollah-Israel war.
MEA noted that it delayed several flights scheduled to land in Beirut on Sunday and Monday due to technical reasons linked to the risk of travel from Lebanon to other destinations.
This disruption in air travel follows a rocket attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday, which resulted in 12 deaths. Israel attributed the attack to Hezbollah, though Hezbollah has denied responsibility. The incident has heightened fears of an all-out war between the two sides.
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