BERLIN. In response to the escalating conflict between Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Israeli military, the Lufthansa Group is temporarily suspending nighttime flights to and from Beirut, German news agency dpa reports.
The airline group, which also includes carriers Austrian Airlines, Swiss and Brussels Airlines, is suspending night flights to and from Beirut until July 31, it tells dpa. Daytime flights to and from Beirut will continue to be offered, it says.
The spokesperson said the change had begun on June 29 and that daytime flights would operate as before.
Swiss International Air Lines, a Lufthansa Group subsidiary, also said it would move its Beirut night flights to the daytime until the end of July “due to the political developments at the border between Lebanon and Israel”.
The airlines did not give detailed information about the nature of the threat.
In March, the Lebanese government said it would file an urgent complaint with the UN Security Council over Israel’s alleged disruption of its navigation systems that it said affected the safety of civil aviation in the airspace of Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport.
Swiss International Air Lines on Monday said the change in its schedule was not related to any potential GPS interference on its aircraft flying to Beirut.
“Our pilots are trained to handle any such situations and our aircraft have several other systems on board when one system is no longer to be trusted,” a spokesperson for Swiss said.
Previously its crews did not stay overnight in Lebanon after flying from Zurich, but instead stayed on board the aircraft when preparing for the return flight, the spokesperson added.