Impact of Regional Instability on Beirut’s Air Traffic and Global Airline Responses
Amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport (BEY) is experiencing significant disruptions, including delays and cancellations of flights. This situation stems from increased hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, which recently escalated with a tragic incident on July 27, 2024, where a rocket attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights resulted in the death of 12 children.
The severity of this attack has heightened fears of a potential full-scale conflict, prompting airlines to reconsider their operations in the region. On July 29, 2024, Lufthansa Group announced a temporary suspension of five routes to and from Beirut, affecting its subsidiaries including Swiss International Air Lines and Eurowings. This suspension is a precautionary measure, set to be reviewed by July 30, 2024.
Following Lufthansa’s lead, several other carriers have also taken action. Turkish Airlines and its low-cost subsidiary AJet canceled flights on July 28, 2024. Additionally, Sun Express, Ethiopian Airlines, and Aegean Airlines have withdrawn services. Despite these cancellations, Middle East Airlines (MEA), Lebanon’s flagship carrier, continues to operate, although it had to cancel some flights scheduled for the afternoon of July 27 to avoid overnight returns to Beirut.
MEA cited ‘technical reasons related to the distribution of insurance risks for aircraft between Lebanon and other destinations’ as the cause for delays in flights scheduled to land back in Beirut on July 29, 2024. Major carriers like Emirates, Air France, and Qatar Airways are still operating flights to Beirut, albeit under heightened scrutiny from their respective insurance providers.
The insurance sector, critical in such volatile situations, is likely keeping a vigilant eye on developments, ready to update their risk assessments and advisories to client airlines in real-time. Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport, having been a target in previous conflicts including the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, remains a focal point of concern in current geopolitical tensions.
On July 28, 2024, following the attack in the Golan Heights, Israel’s security cabinet authorized the government to take responsive measures, although Hezbollah has denied involvement in the incident. This attack marks a significant escalation in the region’s ongoing conflicts, including the broader war that began with a Hamas-led assault on October 7, 2023, which continues to spread, intensifying the threat of a wider regional war.