Worried About War In The Middle East Spreading: Demand For Flights In Lebanon Soars, Ticket Prices Skyrocket

Illustration of Beirut Raff Hariri International Airport. (Source: National News Agency)

JAKARTA - The surge in flight demand caused plane ticket prices in Lebanon to skyrocket, as foreigners and tourists fear the war in the Middle East will expand, with Hezbollah's complete confrontation with Israel.

Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport was packed on Sunday evening, after America, France, Britain, and a number of other countries urged its citizens to leave the country, quoted from The National News Aug. 5.

Air France, Lufthansa, Royal Jordanian, and Transavia have canceled flights in recent days, as militant groups Hezbollah and Israel attacked each other with missiles, most recently on Saturday night when 30 to 50 projectiles were launched in Galilean, before Israel bombed southern Lebanon on Sunday and Monday morning.

The increase in tensions was the result of the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukr in Beirut last week.

As foreign nationals, including visitors and people working for embassy and international companies, tried to leave Beirut on Sunday, they found plane tickets to leave very limited.

Emirates, Etihad, Flydubai, and Turkish Airlines are among airlines still flying from Beirut.

The online search shows the next available ticket from Beirut to Dubai with Flydubai flying twice a day is on Tuesday and costs $1,360 for a trip of three hours and 45 minutes.

One-way flights on Monday morning with Emirates from Beirut to Dubai ranging from USD 760. The next Etihad flight available from Beirut to Abu Dhabi was Monday, August 12, with prices starting at USD 1.090.

Flight Catchers, a British travel agent, said Turkish Airlines was the only major airline to operate flights to Europe, while all other airlines suspended services until August 15.

Meanwhile, Middle East Airlines Lebanon suspended direct flights to the UK until at least August 6, he said.

Turkish Airlines tickets on Monday, there was only one seat left on Sunday evening, to England for USD 1,700. Usually, it costs around USD 510. The next seat available to London was on August 11 for USD 1,320.

"Harga akan naik ketika ada permintaan kursi yang tinggi dan ketersediaan yang sedikit," kata seorang perwakilan.

Baraka Travel, a Lebanese travel agent, said demand for overseas flights was "very high" and prices had increased "dramatically".

"This is because many foreign airlines have canceled their tickets, including Air France, Lufthansa, Royal Jordanian, Transavia," a representative told The National.

He said ticket demand was "very high", about "20 times the capacity in the market".

"If the ticket is available for 250 US dollars, the price will automatically be around 600 to 700 US dollars due to the pressure of demand," he said.

He added that economic class tickets were the first to be sold out, so only more expensive classes were available.

Reem Homsi, an American from Texas who visited his family in Lebanon, said the price of a "direct" ticket spiked after a deadly attack on the outskirts of Beirut, Dahieh, last Tuesday. Prior to the attack, he said that flights to the US cost between $1,300 and $ 2,000.

"After Tuesday, prices rose to around $3.000 for a 36-hour flight, with a lot of stops overnight and a change in airports," he told The National.

The only option to go to Austin, he said, was $11,000. "There's no flight tomorrow (Tuesday)," he added.

He felt "take the risk" by staying, even as most Lebanese continued their daily lives.