Lebanon
Israeli military strikes Beirut's southern suburbs
The Israeli military said on Thursday that it was attacking Hezbollah targets in Beirut's southern suburbs, and the Lebanese state news agency reported three strikes.
Rising tensions in the Middle East have created air travel chaos, with global airlines diverting or cancelling flights on Wednesday and regional airports, including Lebanon, Israel and Kuwait, showing long delays, according to FlightRadar24 data.
Passengers queue at the check-in counters at Beirut-Rafic Al Hariri International Airport, in Beirut, Lebanon October 2, 2024. Reuters/Yara Abi Nader
Rising tensions in the Middle East have created air travel chaos, with global airlines diverting or cancelling flights on Wednesday and regional airports, including Lebanon, Israel and Kuwait, showing long delays, according to FlightRadar24 data.
Concern over travel disruption as the conflict intensifies also knocked shares in the travel and airline sectors on Wednesday morning.
Iran launched its largest missile attack against Israel on Tuesday in retaliation for Israel's campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, triggering a threat from Israel of a "painful response".
On Wednesday morning, a few flights were seen over Iranian airspace, according to a FlightRadar24 map, including from carrier flydubai, after Iran said its ballistic missile attack on Israel was over.
However, flights across the entire region were diverted or disrupted with little sign of broader normalisation.
Carriers around the world have cancelled flights to Israel and Lebanon in the wake of the escalating conflict, with many saying they won't resume until at least mid-October, depending on the security situation.
Both British Airways and Air France-KLM said their flight cancellations to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport remained in place until at least early next week, including the Oct. 7 one-year anniversary of Hamas' attack on Israel.
AIRPORT IMPACT
Traffic over the Istanbul, Cairo and Antalya hubs remained dense as flights continued to avoid parts of Middle Eastern airspace.
Dubai International Airport reported 85% of its departing flights as delayed, while Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport had 60% of its flights cancelled, according to the airline tracker.
At Kuwait International Airport, 67% of arriving flights were delayed.
The latest disruptions are expected to deal a further blow to an industry already facing a host of restrictions due to conflicts between Israel and Hamas, and Russia and Ukraine.
Reporting by Joanna Plucinska
The Israeli military said on Thursday that it was attacking Hezbollah targets in Beirut's southern suburbs, and the Lebanese state news agency reported three strikes.
Lebanon has made progress on reforms needed to revive its economy but still has key steps to take and will need external funding on concessional terms, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday after a week of meetings in Beirut.
Greece and Egypt have agreed to safeguard the status of one of the world's oldest sites of Christian worship, foreign ministers of both countries said late on Wednesday, after an Egyptian court ruling last week cast uncertainty over its future.
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