The Lebanese company Middle East Airlines friends five planes safe in Türkiye and canceled the half of its flights because of threats of conflict between Israel and Hezbollaha Shiite armed group based in southern Lebanon.
Middle East Airlines has moved four Airbus A321neo and one Airbus A330 of its fleet from its base at Beirut Airport to Istanbul International Airport. They will remain in Istanbul until further notice. Also, the Lebanese airline alerted its staff to be ready in case it was necessary to implement a contingency plan to remove the remaining 19 planes from the Lebanese capital Beirut, a spokesperson said.
The CEO of Middle East Airlines, Mohammad el-Hout, announced that his company would suspend “ more than half » of his flights following a cancellation of his insurance coverage. Indeed, due to the risks of war, insurance companies refuse to cover planes based in Lebanon.
“ I want to reassure by saying that there is no information indicating an upcoming airport strike “, however declared Mohammad el-Hout to the local channel MTV. “ More than half of the company’s flights will be canceled, but our priority is to maintain connections between Lebanon and abroad “, he added.
