As UAE residents in Lebanon look to escape turmoil, one bride-to-be aims to stay put

Fears come against backdrop of rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah

Passengers wait at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut after their flights were delayed or cancelled. EPA

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UAE residents in Beirut have expressed their concern as governments around the world urge their citizens to leave Lebanon as soon as possible.

Fears of an all-out war between Hezbollah and Israel have already led to a surge in demand for flights out of Beirut.

This has left some UAE residents in Lebanon frantically looking to change their travel plans to make sure they can return to the Emirates.

Dubai resident Tarek Sayyad is in Beirut and will travel back to the UAE on Monday night.

Flight prices double

“Luckily, I booked my flight on Middle East Airlines two weeks ago. I checked with the airlines this morning hoping to make a change in timing, only to find out that all flights are fully booked for all of August,” said Mr Sayyad, a Lebanese citizen.

“I paid $550 for my return ticket, which is the usual price and then I heard this week from my friends that the ticket prices had doubled already.

“In Lebanon, life is a bit of a contradiction. People are worried about further escalations and about their safety and that of their families, but their biggest worry is getting stuck in Lebanon and not being able to travel back due to more flights getting cancelled in the future.

“My family live in Lebanon, and I commute back and forth to Dubai almost on a weekly basis. It is not an ideal situation, with what is going on today but we, Lebanese people, need to do what we have to do.”

On Sunday, several countries renewed or revised travel warnings for Lebanon and Israel, urging their citizens to leave as soon as possible.

The updated recommendations – including from France and the US – came at a time when Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah stand on the brink of a large-scale war, days after a senior commander in the group was killed in Beirut and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran.

Change in plans

One UAE resident, who flew back to Lebanon last week to get married later this month, explained how many of her wedding guests had cancelled their trips, with others monitoring flight availability to see if they should make the trip.

“It's mostly foreigners who are thinking of leaving,” said interior designer Tracy, 31, who has asked for her surname not to be disclosed.

“Lebanese expats [visiting home] are not really panicking because we know how it goes … [there are] a lot of threats but nothing really happens in the main Christian areas.

“For sure, foreigners will panic and leave because of the embassy messages from across the world.”

It was relatively easy to leave with not much changing apart from airports being slightly busier than usual, she added.

As for her wedding day later this month, she estimates that 20 guests have already cancelled plans to travel to Lebanon for the big day.

“So far, the guests who have cancelled are all from the US and Canada. The rest of the guests from outside Lebanon are due to arrive from August 10 but that will depend on the situation with flights then,” she said.