Typically, Lebanese Middle East Airlines (MEA) planes do not land in a warzone. Landing a plane on a runway takes concentration and skill at the best of times. Pilots could do without bombs dropping, fragments flying, and smoke billowing as they do so.
MEA planes coming into land at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut these days certainly have more to contend with as Israeli air strikes continue, particularly in the city’s southern suburbs. The surreal nature of these descents and take-offs give it a cinematic feel as if cameras were rolling and a director was shouting ‘Action!’
It is a testament to the resilience of Beirut’s airport authorities that they keep these flights operational despite the threat of severe conflict for several weeks and despite the Israelis having threatened to bomb the airport.
Dodging drones
Its importance to Western nations in evacuating their citizens, together with its essential role in supplying the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and humanitarian aid to a million displaced people has so far deterred Israel from taking it out.
With missiles flying and drones swarming, MEA pilots take off daily from Lebanon, ferrying Lebanese escaping the inferno to safer lands through Lebanese airspace that Israel controls. The plane crew help passengers overcome their anxieties.
Yet Rafic Hariri International Airport is fighting its own battle. War has stripped it of its commercial function. It is now a national symbol, a sovereign facility whose sole purpose is to endure, keeping Lebanon’s lifeline to air travel open and letting those who need to come and go enter and exit the country.
It is through the airport that the country gets its pharmaceuticals, telecoms equipment, and meets its logistical needs for its security and military forces. It is also needed for the transfer of dollars to the central bank (the Bank of Lebanon) and commercial banks.
Every airport department is on high alert and following emergency procedures. Maintenance engineers, repair crews, cargo and storage staff, plane preparation teams, passenger service personnel, and air traffic controllers work under imminent threat. Yet they all know how important it is that the airport stays open.
Assessing risk
This commitment to defy danger and keep Lebanon connected to the world does not negate caution, says MEA chairman Mohamad El-Hout. "Operations will certainly not compromise the safety of passengers and crew members. All flights are meticulously planned, with an ad-hoc risk assessment committee. If at any time we sense a risk to passenger and crew safety, we take immediate action."
Since the outbreak of war in Lebanon, foreign airlines have all but stopped flights into and out of the country, but MEA still operates dozens of round-trip flights daily, transporting thousands of passengers in and out. So far, there have been around 100 evacuation flights carrying 12,000 foreign and Arab nationals.
El-Hout said: "Despite the company's losses from empty return flights to Beirut, its national commitment and role in bearing the crisis's weight prevented any increase in ticket prices, which have remained unchanged since July. We will recover our losses."
He says he never feared for the company's future during Israel's war against Lebanon in 2006 and feels the same now, adding that MEA will recover and return to profitability once the security situation stabilises.
