At Beirut airport, flights cancelled amid conflict escalation
Published: 03:08 PM,Aug 25,2024 | EDITED : 07:08 PM,Aug 25,2024
People stand next to their luggage at the Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport, in Beirut, Lebanon August 25, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Beirut, Lebanon, - Dozens of passengers at Lebanon's only international airport were anxiously checking announcement boards Sunday as more flights to the capital were canceled or delayed amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
Beirut International Airport was functioning but many passengers were stuck as major airlines announced flight suspensions, after Israel and Hezbollah announced broad strikes in an escalation of cross-border hostilities.
'We came at 4:30 am for our flight at 8:00 am but they told us it was canceled,' said Elham Shukair, a passenger headed to the United States via Jordan. Seated on her bag in the arrivals hall, she said she had booked another flight later Sunday with Lebanon's Middle East Airlines in the hope of reaching Amman and making her onward connection.
On Sunday, passengers sat on the floor in the departures hall as screens showed canceled or delayed flights, while the arrivals area was largely empty. 'Our flight is still scheduled but it is delayed,' said Diala Hatoum, who was set to travel with her son on a Qatar Airways flight.
'We will see, we are waiting now,' she added.
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned against further regional escalation on Sunday in a meeting with the United States' highest-ranking general, as cross-border hostilities between Israel and Lebanon intensified.
Sisi 'warned of the dangers of a new front opening in Lebanon and stressed the necessity of preserving Lebanon's stability and sovereignty', according to a statement from the president's office.
His meeting in Egypt with US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Charles 'CQ' Brown, the United States's highest-ranking military officer, came hours after Israel launched air strikes on Lebanon.
Beirut International Airport was functioning but many passengers were stuck as major airlines announced flight suspensions, after Israel and Hezbollah announced broad strikes in an escalation of cross-border hostilities.
'We came at 4:30 am for our flight at 8:00 am but they told us it was canceled,' said Elham Shukair, a passenger headed to the United States via Jordan. Seated on her bag in the arrivals hall, she said she had booked another flight later Sunday with Lebanon's Middle East Airlines in the hope of reaching Amman and making her onward connection.
On Sunday, passengers sat on the floor in the departures hall as screens showed canceled or delayed flights, while the arrivals area was largely empty. 'Our flight is still scheduled but it is delayed,' said Diala Hatoum, who was set to travel with her son on a Qatar Airways flight.
'We will see, we are waiting now,' she added.
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned against further regional escalation on Sunday in a meeting with the United States' highest-ranking general, as cross-border hostilities between Israel and Lebanon intensified.
Sisi 'warned of the dangers of a new front opening in Lebanon and stressed the necessity of preserving Lebanon's stability and sovereignty', according to a statement from the president's office.
His meeting in Egypt with US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Charles 'CQ' Brown, the United States's highest-ranking military officer, came hours after Israel launched air strikes on Lebanon.