KUWAIT: Kuwait Airways yesterday said it was suspending its Beirut flights “as a precautionary measure”, but most other flights were arriving and leaving normally, after Moscow requested airlines avoid an area over the eastern Mediterranean. In a precautionary measure taken to ensure passengers’ safety, Kuwait Airways cancelled four flights to and from Beirut over the past two days.

The decision was made due to the state of confusion prevailing in Beirut after Russia asked Lebanon’s Civil Aviation authority to divert all civilian flight routes because it planned to conduct drills and maneuvers in the Mediterranean. Lebanese Transport Minister Ghazi Zeaiter said Moscow asked “that planes leaving Beirut airport towards the west avoid overflying an area in Mediterranean territorial waters because of maneuvers on Saturday, Sunday and Monday”.

There was no confirmation from Moscow, but a Lebanese airport official said departing flights would be directed south over Sidon and Sarafand to “keep them away from the perimeter of the maneuvers”. Lebanon’s national carrier Middle East Airlines said most of its flights would be on schedule but “some flights to the Gulf and the Middle East region might take (a) longer time due to a slight change in airways”.

By Meshaal Al-Enezi