Chaos and confusion at Lebanon's major airport

After a number of countries called upon their citizens to leave Lebanon urgently — in the words of the US Embassy in Beirut, by using "any ticket available" — traffic and crowds grew at the country's Rafik Hariri International Airport, the only operational commercial airport in the country. It's located in the southern suburbs of the country's capital, Beirut. 

Sweden, the UK, Germany, France, Jordan and Saudi Arabia had all issued similar statements telling their nationals to get out of Lebanon , due to fears that rising tensions between Israel and Iran might result in a wider war, drawing in Lebanon.

Confusion and panic among passengers coincided with the suspension of flights to and from Beirut by a number of airlines, including Germany's Lufthansa, Air France and budget airline Transavia. Kuwait Airlines has also halted flights and Qatar Airways has paused overnight journeys into Beirut.

Many of those stuck at the airport posted pictures and videos on social media.

"I was supposed to depart yesterday, but my flight was postponed," one of the would-be passengers, Sirine Hakim, told news agency AFP. The 22-year-old had spent three weeks in Lebanon visiting family but had to leave due to work commitments.

Despite conflict, expats still came home

Although tit-for-tat rocket fire has been almost uninterrupted in southern Lebanon on the country's border with Israel, its impact on Beirut's traditional summer visitors' influx at first seemed to have been comparatively minimal, with tens of thousands of Lebanese nationals working or studying abroad undeterred from visiting. 

Lebanon has a large diaspora. There are around 5 million people living in the country itself, and as many as 14 million Lebanese living abroad. Many of them return to Lebanon regularly and that also seems to have been the case this year.

Lebanon's Civil Aviation Authority said it counted 400,000 arrivals in June this year, with 80 to 90 planes touching down in Beirut daily. Over the same month last year, around 426,000 people had arrived.

Most of those arriving this year were Lebanese expats, airport authorities pointed out. Tourism has suffered the most. Arrivals from Europe and North America fell by around 17% and 15% respectively, statistics gathered in March this year show.

Airport operation normal

Despite the chaos and confusion at Beirut airport this week, it was still operating normally as Mazen Sammak, the head of the Private Pilots Association in Lebanon, confirmed to DW. The airport was crowded, he said, but that was likely due to the many embassies simultaneously telling their citizens to leave Lebanon.

"These embassies were clear about the need to leave Beirut on the first flight, which caused panic as foreign nationals rushed to travel as quickly as possible," Sammak explained. "The crisis got worse when some of the airlines stopped flights into Beirut. That then led to an increase in demand for tickets for still operating flights, which then caused ticket prices to rise."

So far, congestion and canceled flights in Beirut have not had any impact on air traffic in surrounding countries. But if the situation continues, that may well change. 

"If airspace in Lebanon is closed for a short period, it doesn't affect air traffic at Egyptian airports and, so far, traffic to our airports has not increased," said Khaled Wassel, Cairo ground operations manager for Corendon Airlines, a Turkish aviation operator.

But that wasn't the case back in April, he told DW, when airports closed in Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq due to an Iranian drone and missile attack in Israel. The strike was Iran's retaliation for an Israeli missile that hit the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus, Syria, killing a senior Iranian military commander.

"At that time, Egypt didn't close its airspace, so there was a significant increase in air traffic here," Wassel explained.

This conflict could spell disaster for the aviation sector in the region, warned Zuhair Khashman, CEO of Jordan Aviation, a privately owned airline.

"Closing airspace and diverting flights and travel routes — all of this could lead to an economic disaster for airlines, especially since many are still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic," he said.

'Closing it just isn't an option at the moment'

Many of the travelers stuck in Beirut likely fear a repeat of events in 2006. Back then, in retaliation for the capture of two Israeli soldiers by the Lebanon-based Hezbollah group, Israeli jets bombed Beirut airport. At the time, Israel had said this was because the airport could be used to bring in weapons for Hezbollah, or to transport the kidnapped men out.

The Lebanese government had stated that it didn't endorse Hezbollah's attacks and called for an immediate cease-fire. Bombed in July 2006 and then blockaded by Israel, Beirut's airport was then closed until September that year.

Sammak of the Private Pilots Association doesn't think Beirut airport will close now unless it has to — for example, if bombed.

"It wouldn't be the first time it's been closed," he told DW. "And in the past people have still found a way to leave, either through Tripoli or Jounieh. I believe, given the circumstances, that even if there is a need to close the airport now, it will only be for a few hours, or a day or two at most. Closing it just isn't an option at the moment."

This story was originally written in Arabic.