Significant drop in passenger traffic at Beirut airport amid heaviest Israeli bombardment

By Wassim Seifeddine

BEIRUT (AA) – A substantial decline hit travel activity at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport amid a massive wave of Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon, according to a Lebanese tourism figure on Monday.

“Fourteen airlines have suspended flights to Lebanon,” Jean Abboud, head of Lebanon’s Association of Travel and Tourist Agents, told a press conference in Beirut.

He said passenger traffic dropped between 30% and 40% at Rafik Hariri airport.

Abboud said several major airlines suspended flights to Lebanon, including Swiss International Air Lines, Kuwait Airways, Transavia, Air France, Lufthansa, and Saudi Airlines.

Lebanon’s flag carrier Middle East Airlines (MEA) is adding extra flights to accommodate the gaps created by the absence of other carriers, he added.

At least 182 people were killed and 727 others injured in massive Israeli airstrikes targeting several areas in Lebanon since Monday morning, according to the Health Ministry.

The Israeli army said that it launched more than 300 airstrikes in Lebanon since early morning, marking the heaviest bombardment since the onset of hostilities last Oct. 8.

Tension has mounted between Hezbollah and Israel following a deadly airstrike on Friday that killed at least 45 people, including children and women, and injured dozens in Beirut’s southern suburb.

Hezbollah confirmed that at least 16 of its members, including senior leader Ibrahim Aqil and top commander Ahmed Wahbi, were killed in the Israeli strike.

The attack came two days after at least 37 people were killed and over 3,000 others injured in two waves of wireless communication device explosions across Lebanon.

While the Lebanese government and Hezbollah blame Israel for the explosions, Tel Aviv has not denied or confirmed its involvement.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, which has killed over 41,400 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 last year.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul