Flights at Lebanese airport are cancelled or delayed due to fear of Israeli attacks

Lufthansa has already suspended night flights to and from Beirut (acting)

Flights to and from Beirut airport were cancelled or delayed on Monday as tensions escalated between Israel and the armed political group Hezbollah after 12 children and teenagers were killed in an attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Air France announced on Monday that it would suspend flights between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Beirut on July 29 and 30, 2024 due to the security situation at the destination.

“Air France is monitoring the situation in Lebanon in real time,” the airline said.

Due to current developments in the Middle East, Lufthansa, Swiss and Eurowings of the Lufthansa Group have decided to suspend their flights to and from Beirut until August 5, a spokesman for the group said.

The Lebanese airline Middle East Airlines (MEA) said disruptions to the flight schedule were due to insurance risks.

The rocket attack on the Golan Heights on Saturday has increased fears that a full-scale war could break out between Israel and the Iran-backed group.

Israel’s security cabinet on Sunday authorized the government to respond to the attack. Hezbollah denied any responsibility for the attack, the deadliest in Israel or Israeli-annexed territories since Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault sparked the war in Gaza that has since spread to multiple fronts.

According to Beirut Airport’s flight information board and the flight tracking website Flightradar24, Turkish Airlines also canceled two flights on Sunday night.

Turkey-based budget airline SunExpress, Turkish Airlines subsidiary AJet, Greek carrier Aegean Airlines, Ethiopian Air and MEA have also cancelled flights scheduled to land in Beirut on Monday, Flightradar24 shows.

The airlines did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport is Lebanon’s only airport. It has been the target of attacks during the country’s civil war and in previous clashes with Israel, including the most recent war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006.

On Sunday, the MEA said the departure of some flights scheduled to land in Beirut overnight had been postponed. Further delays for flights scheduled to land on Monday were then announced due to “technical reasons related to the distribution of insurance risks for aircraft between Lebanon and other destinations,” the MEA said.

Since the Gaza war began, cross-border exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and the Israeli military have increased. The conflict has disrupted air and maritime traffic across the region, including during mutual drone and missile attacks between Israel and Iran in April.

Due to the “current developments” in the Middle East, Lufthansa has already canceled night flights to and from Beirut for July.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)