BEIRUT, Sept 23 (Bernama-Anadolu) – 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,” Anadolu Agency reported 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 per cent and 40 per cent 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, according to Anadolu.
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