Beirut stops rerouting flights as Russian Federation halts manoeuvres

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”.

Russian Federation began the drills on Friday.

Zeaiter said Beirut had “reservations about the Russian request and was studying it”. Lebanon’s national carrier Middle East Airlines acknowledged the rerouting in a statement, saying its flights would be mostly on time but “some flights to the Gulf and the Middle East region might take (a) longer time due to a slight change in airways”.

He said, “The decision should be taken by the Lebanese government”. They are working on opening an air corridor above Cyprus and if it doesn’t work we will stick to the current lines.

According to an worldwide governmental database of notices for airmen (NOTAM), Russian Federation gave notice on November 20 of a rocket test firing off the Lebanese coast over a three-day period.

Russia’s Defense Ministry declined to comment on the issue.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt wrote in a tweet that Russian seemed to “consider Lebanon as a district of Moscow, infringing and insulting our sovereignty”.

Earlier in the day, Lebanese media also reported that officials in Rafik Hariri worldwide Airport in the Lebanese capital Beiruthad received notification from the Russian navy that it would be carrying out the training and maneuvers starting from midnight on Friday, adding that the exercises “have a direct effect on Lebanon’s airspace and will bring air traffic to and from Beirut’s airport to a complete halt”.