Swiss cancels flights to and from Beirut until mid-January
Published: Wednesday, Oct 23rd 2024, 10:00
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The Swiss Lufthansa subsidiary Swiss will no longer fly to the Lebanese capital Beirut, which is under fire, until at least January 18. The announcement on this date is intended to provide more predictability for passengers and crews, Swiss announced.
Affected passengers will be contacted, the statement continued on Wednesday. The airline is offering a free rebooking to a later travel date or a refund of the ticket price.
At the beginning of October, Swiss suspended its flights to and from Tel Aviv until the end of October. At that time, the airline also announced that it would no longer fly to Beirut until at least November 30. This measure has now been extended.
The parent company Lufthansa, as well as numerous other airlines, also announced at the time that they were canceling their flights to Tel Aviv and Beirut. Due to the tense security situation, the airlines have repeatedly extended the flight ban to the Middle East.
The Israeli ground offensive in Lebanon against the Hezbollah militia launched at the end of September further escalated the situation in the region. Israel wants to enable the return of 60,000 Israelis who have been displaced from areas along the border for months by Hezbollah attacks. Even before the ground offensive began, the Israeli army launched massive air strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
Hezbollah and the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip are part of the so-called "Axis of Resistance", a network supported by the leadership in Tehran in the fight against the arch-enemy Israel.
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